for 's team of automotive journalists (and, let's face it, most everyone we talked to) covering the 2019 north american international auto show in detroit, this year's motor city motor show felt like a bit of a dud. not very many new-model debuts, one solitary european automaker participating (and even then, it was a pretty snoozy bow by the new 2020 volkswagen passat), and just a general air of eating at a restaurant after it announced that it's closing at the end of the week — because it kinda was. but amid all that disappointment were some real, legitimate surprises that gave the show the shot in the arm it desperately needed.
now that the detroit auto show has killed the fluorescents and closed the doors, and the last car shopper/auto enthusiast has uber'd home from cobo center, we have a clear idea of what wound up exciting audiences over the past couple of weeks — starting with the 2020 cadillac xt6.
the all-new three-row luxury suv — positioned to compete with the likes of the lincoln aviator, infiniti qx70, acura mdx and audi q7 — plugs a hole in gm's luxury-brand lineup in a white-hot segment that had cadillac playing catch-up. and while reviewer aaron bragman was left underwhelmed by the new caddy crossover, readers' curiosity was decidedly piqued: the xt6 is the lone model to show up twice on our list of the 10 most popular stories out of detroit, with bragman's first impressions of the xt6 accelerating to no. 3 and our full preview story on the suv checking in at no. 10.
other popular articles included reviewer mike hanley's straight-from-the-show-floor comparison of the 2019 chevrolet blazer and 2019 honda passport suvs at no. 1, our reviewers' back-and-forth discussion/debate on which models were winners and which wear the scarlet "l" at no. 2, our 2020 ford explorer preview at no. 4 and our best in show award-winning 2020 kia telluride rounding out the top 5. meanwhile, the 2020 ford mustang shelby gt500 and resurrected-for-2020 toyota supra also made enthusiastic showings.
here are the top 10 stories readers couldn't get enough of from the 2019 detroit auto show:
1. show floor face-off: 2019 chevrolet blazer vs. 2019 honda passport
2. 2019 detroit auto show winners and losers
3. 2020 cadillac xt6: a lincoln aviator competitor it is not
4. 2020 ford explorer: back to the future
5. 2019 detroit auto show: best in show
6. 2020 ford mustang shelby gt500: no manual, no 10-speed, no problem
7. 2020 toyota supra will be pricey but not supra-expensive
8. 2020 hyundai palisade video: 4 things to like on the inside
9. 2020 kia telluride: a family ski lodge on four wheels
10. 2020 cadillac xt6: 3-row caddy crossover de-escalates from escalade
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