Fresh from the Windy City

CHICAGO -- The theme of the 2007 Chicago Auto Show was not trucks, SUVs, small cars, or the return of the muscle car. It was more about diversity of product -- from age appeal to driving needs and environmental sensibilities, the approaches taken by manufacturers also were diverse. Some looked to revive old brands, while others tweaked already successful products.

Here are some trends and notable cars from this year's show, which ends today :

The Ford Taurus is back, and so is the Mercury Sable, along with a crossover, the Ford Taurus X. The names will replace those attached to the Five Hundred sedan, Mercury Montego sedan, and Ford Freestyle crossover. Some critics have called this simple rebadging, but it is not that simple. Yes, the company is bringing back old names it now says it should never have abandoned and is putting them on cars already being built. But even under their old names, these cars -- which did not do as well as hoped -- were already in the midst of redesign.

Each will have an available 265-horsepower engine to complement the 203-horsepower that some consider too weak. They will come with all-wheel drive as an option, electronic stability control, and side curtain air bags. The noses and rears are being redesigned, particularly on the Sable and Taurus, to make the vehicles look more aggressive.

Scion was targeted for the here-and-now attention spans of younger consumers, and it has been a success for parent company Toyota. Now the automaker is replacing its xA hatchback with a far more aggressive-looking xD, built on the same platform as the Toyota Yaris. The ultra-boxy xB -- kids loved or hated it and lots of older folks bought it -- is being replaced with a muscular box with a more powerful 2.4-liter engine.

The Saturn group is showing parent company General Motors Corp. that fine cars with fine interiors can be built at good prices. Consider the 2007 North American Car of the Year, the Saturn Aura sedan. Now comes the Saturn Astra, based on a European Opel. It's a hatchback with two or four doors and a 140-horsepower engine.

In the meantime, dramatically redesigned versions of the Saturn Vue small SUV are on the way, including the 250-horsepower Red Line and the Green Line hybrid.

The Pontiac G8 has the nose and hood scoop that should have been included on the reborn GTO, which flopped. As it did with the GTO, General Motors is turning to its Holden unit in Australia for strength. Pontiac wants to be GM's performance division, and the G8 looks like a good move, with either a 261-horsepower V-6 or a Corvette-based 362-horsepower V-8.

Nissan is not alone in sticking with its plan to launch big vehicles despite the glare of the global warming spotlight. Toyota is banking on its giant new Tundra, Chevrolet just redid its entire big truck lineup, and Ford has clung to its pickups and SUVs. But when you name a truck the Titan and an SUV the Armada -- as Nissan did -- it really makes a statement. Neither vehicle did well in their first incarnations, so Nissan is hoping exterior design tweaks to lessen the boxy look and better interior fit and finish will help boost sales. There's also a new range of bed lengths for the pickup truck, from 5 1/2 to 8 feet.

I always liked the Toyota Highlander for its crossover appeal (Toyota still calls it an SUV). It's more like a high-riding wagon and you see lots of them on the road, despite their nondescript exteriors. Now it has flared fenders and a 270-horsepower V-6 replacing the less powerful V-6 in earlier models. And a new hybrid-electric version will be here soon.

Volkswagen continues to experiment with niches -- its recent launch of the EOS hardtop convertible being a solid example. The Volkswagen R32, a hot-rod hatchback, will be sold in the United States in limited quantities (around 5,000), and will feature a 3.2-liter V-6 hooked to a six-speed manual with electronic shift option, and all-wheel drive.

Royal Ford can be reached at ford@globe.com.