Whitby This Week - The list of product debuts continues to grow for the 2009 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit as the world’s auto manufacturers and more than 6,000 international journalists are set to converge on Detroit this weekend.

Chevrolet and Kia are the latest automakers to reveal worldwide debuts for NAIAS 2009. Chevrolet will premiere the 2010 Equinox and Kia will take the wraps off a new concept.

The 2010 Chevrolet Equinox is a compact crossover that General Motors boasts likely will deliver the best-in-class fuel economy when it goes on sale in mid-2009.

Completely redesigned inside and out, the Equinox also can be loaded with all kinds of technological features.

Kia is keeping secret until it NAIAS 2009 press conference the name and details of its concept. But as the concept is intended to demonstrate the flexibility of the newly introduced 2010 Kia Soul, originally shown in concept form at NAIAS 2006.

General Motors and Smart have announced they will use the NAIAS 2009 stafe for the North American debut of a number of new production models that made their world premiere at the 2008 Paris auto show.

GM will show the 2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon, Chevrolet Cruze small car and the Chevrolet Orlando concept. Smart will display the electric ForTwo. GM unveiled the 2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon and the Chevrolet Cruze small car, vehicles in Paris because they will soon go on sale in Europe.

A station wagon version of the widely popular Cadillac CTS goes on sale in Europe and the U.S. in the spring.

It features the same dramatic styining as the CTS and shares it underpinnings but features 25 cubic feet of space behind the rear doors.

Engine choices are a base 263 hp 3.6 litre V6 and an optional 304 hp direct-injection version of the same engine. Transmission options are the same as well, so the CTS Sport Wagon will be available with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic in either rear- or all-wheel drive.

The Chevrolet Cruze will be built and sold in more than 100 countries globally. The five-passenger subcompact, which is smaller than the Cobalt, first goes on sale in Europe in March.

The U.S. version to be built in Lordstown, Ohio, follows later as a replacement for the Chevrolet Cobalt.

GM also will unveil to North America the Chevrolet Orlando people mover concept shown in Paris. The small, seven-passenger multipurpose vehicle could eventually be added to Chevrolet’s line.

Smart division will display in Detroit the electric-powered ForTwo it is working on and showed in Paris. Smart plans to equip the electric ForTwo with advanced lithium-ion batteries.   ¼/p>