For an auto show in Middle America, the 2007 North American International Auto Show was noticeably lacking in new pickup trucks and truck-based sport-utility vehicles. Instead, it was swamped with some two dozen new cars.

Only Toyota, Jeep, Infiniti, Audi, Porsche and Mazda chose to present new, truck-based vehicles at the show.

Toyota showed its largest pickup ever, the 2007 Tundra CrewMax with 381-horsepower V8 and a higher towing capacity―10,800 pounds―than competing light-duty trucks. The CrewMax is the largest model of a revamped, new-generation Tundra line that goes on sale in early 2007.

Jeep showed its truck-based Trailhawk concept SUV, which combines a futuristic Jeep Grand Cherokee with the rugged platform from a Jeep Liberty SUV. The Trailhawk is not slated for production.

Infiniti debuted its refreshed QX56 full-size SUV in Detroit. Based on the Nissan Titan pickup, the QX56 features new front and rear fascias, revised fog lights, and a standard 9.5 gigabyte Music Box hard drive and available real-time traffic information.

Audi revealed a 500-horsepower V12-powered diesel concept version of its Q7 SUV, while Porsche debuted the production version of its revamped Porsche Cayenne SUV.

Mazda brought to Detroit its 2008 Tribute HEV, a gasoline-electric hybrid version of its Tribute SUV. Basically a cousin to the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV already on sale, the Tribute hybrid arrives in showrooms in mid calendar 2007 and is the fi.

But most automakers in Detroit―from little MINI to luxury-oriented Lexus, Lincoln and Cadillac―took the opportunity to present new cars this year. And nearly a dozen other new vehicles at the show were car-based people carriers such as Chrysler’s 2008 minivans and Ford’s collaboration concept vehicle with Airstream.

The swing from trucks and truck-based SUVs in Detroit reflects changing times in the U.S. After several years of volatile gasoline prices and rising concern about global warming, American consumers are widely believed to be looking for more fuel-efficient vehicles for the future.

Indeed, in the year just ended, sales of some of America’s top-selling pickup trucks and truck-based SUVs declined.

For example, sales of the Ford F-150 pickup truck dropped 11.7 percent in calendar 2006 from 2005 to less than 800,000. The Ford Explorer SUV, which for years was the country’s best-selling SUV, saw a 25 percent sales decline in the same year.