What’s coming from the new Detroit

With bankruptcy behind, more fuel-efficient models are on the way

When Chrysler and General Motors emerged from bankruptcy in record time, there was a collective sigh of relief that the American auto industry had avoided driving off the cliff and was ready to merge back into the fast lane. But as difficult as restructuring was, the hardest part is yet to come.

Whether Chrysler, Ford, and GM can ultimately compete in the increasingly global automotive market will depend on the vehicles they build.

We've seen improvements in recent models from Ford and GM, and both have a number of smaller, more fuel-efficient cars in the pipeline. But Chrysler's lineup has not been impressive overall, and the company won't have many new models in the next several months.

Based on our testing of about 80 vehicles per year and the reliability results from our Annual Auto Survey, here's what each automaker is doing right, where it needs to improve, and the most notable models it has coming down the road.