Big hit Rover the pond; Lots of greener, cleaner cars as well as new motor manufacturers were at the North American Motor Show in Detroit. But, writes BILL CAVEN, it was an industry legend who caused the biggest stir.

Byline: BILL CAVEN

IT WAS one of the world's legendary car manufacturers that stood out at the North American Motor Show in Detroit.

New pretenders from China, and other more established manufacturers, wanted to make their mark but it was Land Rover who stole the show with their LRX concept, a prototype for a new compact off-roader.

For many the three-door LRX was the inspirational vision of what lies ahead.

Its handsome looks mated to a clean two-litre diesel hybrid powertrain - with only 120g/kg of CO2 emissions - put it ahead of the field.

It was displayed alongside a 1948 Land Rover - 2008 is the brand's 60th anniversary.

The LRX is the first new Land Rover to be launched since Gerry McGovern took over as chief designer.

Its hybrid system incorporates an integrated Electric Rear Axle Drive that lets it use electric drive alone at lower speeds.

And unlike hybrid technologies used on other SUVs, mechanical drive to all four wheels is retained.

Another legend in the motoring world, Jaguar, were also showing off their latest creation in the form of the new XF, the first one of which rolled off the production line on November 26. So far 5000 firm orders for the car have been placed. Customer deliveries will start in March.

At the show Ford confirmed that Tata are now the only bidder for Jaguar and Land Rover.

Meanwhile, Saab's future style made its debut in the form of the new 9-4X luxury sports-utility vehicle.

External features include a new, bolder treatment of the Saab grille and wraparound front and rear windscreens.

Inside the driver's cockpit area is bolder, with a less vertical dashboard than on current Saab models.

Italian superstars Ferrari brought two models - the 430 Scuderia and 599 GTB Fiorano. Also on the stand this year was a biofuel-powered technological demonstration prototype which uses the F430 Spider as a base.

Five Chinese car makers showed at Detroit, shaking things up a little.

Changfeng Motor announced their intention to launch in Europe and North American as early as 2009.

They unveiled two models - the Liebao CS7 SUV and their first passenger car - a compact MPV called Kylin, styled by Italy's Pininfarina.

Another company BYD, only set up in 2003, which started out making mobile phone batteries, sees batterypowered cars as the future.

BYD showed four models, including the F6 large sedan with BYD's DM (dual mode) electric hybrid system, a technology that the company claim will revolutionise alternative powertrain systems.

The F6DM has a range of around 60 miles in electric mode and a further 190 miles when using the gasoline engine as a generator to charge the battery pack.

The cars are due to go on sale in the US around 2010 and plans to sell them in Europe are being considered.

Mitsubishi Motors showed off their Concept-RA, which fuses dynamic driving with clean yet powerful diesel unit.

General Motors unveiled three eco-friendly models from their Saturn brand - the plug-in hybrid Vue SUV, a dual-mode hybrid Vue Green Line and Flextreme concept.

Developed by Saturn and Opel, it'll form the basis of future European hybrid GM models and uses GM's E-Flex system, incorporating an integrated 1.3-litre turbodiesel engine, electric motors and Li-Ion batteries.

Chrysler also unveiled three alternative power concept cars - the Dodge ZEO, Chrysler ecoVoyager and Jeep Renegade.

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FRESH FACES: Land Rover's LRX concept, right, and Jaguar's XF, above. Below, the future of Saab in the shape of the 9-4X luxury SUV