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Perhaps the biggest star at the recent Detroit show was the Dodge Dart saloon. It was the first car to be unveiled on the first press day and was given the full force of American razzamatazz.  

As soon as the display Darts were on stage, they were surrounded by hundreds of hacks. Nearly everybody did the same thing: open the door, look at the interior and then run our fingers across the plastic surfaces. Then tap our finger nails on the mouldings.

In a couple of years time we might well remember Detroit 2012 as the show when American car styling rediscovered the fastback. Coincidentally, and as if to reinforce the message, a 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 took pride of place outside the main show hall at Cobo.

Of course the fastback look has been returning slowly for a couple of years, mainly in European design, helped by the increasingly long dimensions of today’s family and executive cars, which allow designers the luxury of a sweeping roofline starting at the B-pillar and terminating in a aerodynamic, ‘bustle’ boot.

Believe it or not, there is a motor show going on today that isn’t in North America. The rather less busy European motor show in Brussels opened today to a quite understandable lack of interest from the media.

The premieres are still going on in Detroit, and yet the only thing going on in Brussels is the first public reveal of the Aygo/C1/107 triplets. Excuse us if we don’t hold the front page.

It’s hard to figure out if there’s a current trend in car styling. There doesn’t seem to be a particular trend across the industry aside, perhaps, from the brands that have nailed a language sticking carefully to a so-far successful formula.

Cadillac’s edgy ‘Art and Science’ look has been consistent for a decade now and BMW has settled into a subtle and classy post-Bangle calm. VW’s look - which gives the impression of thick steel plate that has been stamped as very hard - is now bordering on the relentless.

The world’s most expensive TV advertising spots feature between breaks in the play of the Super Bowl, the American football final held every February.

Amazingly a 30 second slot costs a cool $1m and last year Volkswagen took two slots to support its push in the world’s second biggest car-market. The appeal is not just to connect with football fans, but the massive TV audience, many of whom tune in solely to watch the ads.

Lincoln, Ford’s luxury brand, may have no sales relevance outside of North America, but I thought some of these words may resonate with our forum users.

They’re spoken by Jim Farley, Ford’s vice president of marketing, at the launch in Detroit today of the Lincoln MKZ concept, a car which signals the rebirth of the company and pitches it against the likes of Audi, BMW, Lexus and Mercedes.