Regular readers of our blog will know we enjoy covering the latest arrivals at the international motor shows. We’ve covered the last two Geneva Motor Shows from Switzerland. The first big event of the year is the show in Detroit and after a hectic week last week – when we saw the Irish Government act on proposals we’d campaigned for years to achieve – we had a chance to review the new entrants to the market.

As always the high-end vehicles attract the biggest attention: the BMW M3 and BMW M4 (the new name for the M3 Coupé) look stunning. Both have lost weight and gained torque. Both have a smaller engine which has been turbo-charged to deliver more power. The new engine is a six-cylinder replacing the outgoing V8 but performance tests and road reviews have been extremely positive.

Other vehicles featuring at Detroit are the 2015 Mercedes Benz C-Class which features the innovation of a Comfort Box in the boot – effectively a bin that can be pulled out and filled as required, and the 2015 Ford Mustang which looks impressive  – will be available in Ireland – and will look to target a generation of younger buyers.