The holidays may be over, but the auto industry is acting like Christmas is on the way – as they prepare to unwrap dozens of new vehicles at the upcoming North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit.

Last year's NAIAS had 71 vehicle debuts, including 61 worldwide unveilings. After a media preview, an industry preview and a charity preview next week, the show will open to the public for nine days from Jan. 18 – 26.

It's fair to say NAIAS is one of the premiere auto shows in the world. Nearly 800,000 people visited the 2013 event – which was also covered by more than 5,000 journalists from 62 countries.

And given the importance of America's auto industry to the U.S. economy, it's not a big surprise that Vice President Joe Biden and at least three cabinet officials are also expected to attend NAIAS.

See also: Tesla May Unveil Lower-Priced Sedan at 2015 Detroit Auto Show

Industry observers, meanwhile, say there's usually more big news coming out of NAIAS than just the new product launches, and are looking forward to the industry press conferences.

“One car getting a great deal of speculation,” notes Nerad, “is the rumored unveiling of the Toyota (NYSE: TM) Supra sports car, a modern revival of Toyota’s sports coupe of yore. Folks who claim to have seen it say it is the best-looking Toyota of all time.”

The NAIAS is also very important to the city of Detroit, if only to prove to the world that it's still the Motor City.