• by Karl Greenberg , January 8, 2010

If the ushers at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit were handing out Zoloft instead of mints last year -- when several automakers took a powder, and the mood was somber -- maybe on Monday they can return to tradition. The auto show, which draws well over half a million visitors and thousands of members of the press from every corner of the globe, will have a green focus this year, and a healthier attitude.

There will be some 50 vehicle debuts and some new patron-friendly features like an "EcoXperience," which it introduced at last year's show; basically, an indoor test drive of green cars on Cobo's lower level.

In keeping with the eco-mood of the show, there will also be something called Electric Avenue on the main floor, a 37,000-square-foot exhibit sponsored by Dow Chemical that will be all about alternative powertrain technology. It will have 20 vehicles arranged in an arboreal setting, plus symposiums and special events.

Automakers actually ended the year on comparatively good footing, although any footing is good after quicksand. And the show, for which press days begin Monday in the city's Cobo Hall convention center, will be Detroit's chance to demonstrate it is standing without assistance.

Ford says its 54,000-square-foot display will not only be 48% bigger than last year's stand, but Ford's biggest to date.

The company says the exhibition will include 24 interactive displays, driving demonstrations inside Cobo Center, 60 new Ford cars and trucks, and 21 Lincoln and Mercury vehicles. The stand will also have two assembly-line robots (named Eco and Boost) from Ford's Cleveland engine plant and a giant foosball table as part of a Ford Fiesta area. Ford says it will make the forthcoming redesigned global-platform Focus center stage, but will also have a high-performance GT version of the Mustang on display.

Ford says it will also hold its first-ever social media press conference on Jan. 11. The company says it will have 12 hours of live Twitter Q&As, live streaming-video interviews, Facebook Wall chats and blogger interviews. The company says that last year, auto shows generated 125,000 leads, 22,000 test drives and more than 2,000 sales.

Chrysler Group, whose auto show antics are legendary, will not have a press conference at the show this year, but it will bow new models for Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and Dodge Ram. Jeep has three new vehicles: the 2010 Jeep Liberty Renegade, and Jeep Wrangler Islander and Jeep Wrangler Mountain.

General Motors' Chevy division will gun for Ford's Fiesta with a show-car version of the Aveo subcompact, which is being redesigned as a 2011 and goes on sales in the U.S. this year. Chevy will also show the Spark, Malibu, a convertible version of the Camaro and the Orlando crossover. GM will also bow two new Cadillac vehicles, and a new conceptualization of the Buick Regal.