These awards differ from others in that they cover only cars introduced at the Detroit show, and they are judged by a jury composed of 25 eminent active and retired designers, described by host and TV presenter John McElroy as “an unbelievable gallery of talent from around the world.”

While most judges come from the United States, the panel also includes representatives from Japan, Korea, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Although the North American Car and Truck of the Year and International Car of the Year awards have a higher profile, these awards are arguably the ones that the car designers themselves most value, because they are decided by their peers.

The 2008 jury was led by Chris Bangle, director of group design at BMW, Jack Telnack, formerly vice president of design at Ford, and Nate Young, executive vice president and chief academic officer at the Art Center College of Design. The jury inspected cars on display at the NAIAS over the past three days before making their selections.

Four awards are given:

• Best Production Car: Cadillac CTS-V

Here the judges are looking for a combination of ingenuity, aestheticism and emotion. Chief Judge Chris Bangle praised the quality of vehicles on display, saying enigmatically that it fostered a “fascinating discussion” among the judges. The CTS is widely considered to have significantly advanced quality and drivability at the GM brand and in standard form was tipped as a possible North American Car of the Year.

• Best Production Truck: BMW X6

The criteria here cover both functionality and aesthetic value. This category is broad, encompassing crossovers, SUVs, vans, and pickups — even so, Bangle commented that it was not easy to tell where the dividing line between truck and car was. The X6 combines elements of coupe and SUV in an ultra-sporty interpretation of the SUV formula.

• Best Concept Car: Cadillac CTS coupe

For this award, judges are looking for a “new aesthetic and design vocabulary.”  This second win for the CTS stable is especially sweet for Cadillac; if produced, the coupe would help the American company achieve its goal of providing a compelling alternative to cars from BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Lexus particularly in export markets.

• Best Concept Truck: Chrysler ecoVoyager

Again, functionality is the key to success in this category, where an attractive form should accommodate the features that customers need. The semi-elliptical-shaped ecoVoyager minivan features a panoramic glass roof, a boat-tail back end and electrical fuel-cell propulsion.

EyesOn Design is promoted by the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology, which provides support to blind and visually impaired people as well as conducting research relating to medical and general safety issues relating to eyesight. It highlights the importance of sight in appreciating and using automobiles, and draws attention the way that both sight and vehicles are powerful tools that provide people with a measure of independence.

The event is sponsored Dassault Systemes (provider of design software), SAE World Congress, RTT, Magna, KPMG, and the College for Creative Studies.