DETROIT -- Two auto makers moving in dramatically different directions showed off their latest Canadian-made vehicles in Detroit yesterday, with truck-dominated Chrysler seeking to continue its passenger car comeback and car-conscious Honda unveiling its first pickup truck.

The Chrysler division of DaimlerChrysler AG took the wraps off the Dodge Charger, another car coming from the family assembled at its Brampton assembly plant.

Charger joins the Chrysler 300 sedan and Dodge Magnum station wagon, two cars that helped Chrysler regain some share in the passenger car market in 2004.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. introduced the Ridgeline, a pickup truck/sport utility vehicle that continues Honda's foray into the light-truck segments of the market. It will roll off the line at Honda of Canada Mfg. in Alliston, Ont., where the company made its first serious attempt to tackle the truck side of the market in the late 1990s with the Odyssey minivan.

"We believe this segment will remain critical to ensuring future success," Dick Colliver, executive vice-president of American Honda Motor Co. Inc., told reporters at the North American International Auto Show.

Within five years, trucks will represent 60 per cent of the U.S. market, up from a little more than 50 per cent now, Mr. Colliver said as he extolled the virtues of what he called the first pickup with a trunk underneath the pickup bed. It can hold three sets of golf clubs.

The launches of the two new vehicles illustrate a key trend facing every auto maker selling vehicles in Canada and the United States -- relentless competition and a proliferation of new models in virtually every market segment, from subcompact to full-sized SUVs.

The Charger gives Dodge a sedan in the hyper-competitive mid-sized market, where Japan-based companies have grabbed leadership and the battle for best-selling car in the segment -- and best-selling car in the United States -- has become a fight between the Honda Accord and the Camry from Toyota Motor Corp. Charger production will begin this spring, with a third shift being added at the Brampton factory, in part to build that car and in part because of soaring demand for the 300 and Magnum.

The auto maker is still in discussions with the Ontario government about receiving some financial help for the third shift and the 900 new jobs it will create, but "we are basically there," Dieter Zetsche, Chrysler group president, said after he joined NASCAR racing legend Richard Petty and donned Mr. Petty's trademark sunglasses and cowboy hat.

"We're still talking to them," added Tom LaSorda, chief operating officer of DaimlerChrysler Corp. "We hope to have something useful by the end of the month."

Neither Chrysler nor government officials will reveal how much money the auto maker is seeking.

Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove expects the third shift at Brampton to begin Feb. 28, but Chrysler officials would not confirm that.

Nor would they reveal how many Chargers they expect to make in Brampton.

Industry sources expect full-year Charger output to reach 75,000 vehicles.

When combined with increases in 300 and Magnum output, the plant's production will increase to considerably more than 300,000 vehicles annually.

As for the Honda pickup, it will go on sale in March and the auto maker expects to sell 50,000 this year, Mr. Colliver said.

The Honda and Chrysler plans make this a key year for new vehicle launches at Canadian plants. In addition to the Ridgeline, Honda will redesign its Civic compact, which is also assembled in Alliston and was the best-selling passenger car in Canada last year.

A new Civic is a crucial entry for a company hoping to rebound from a poor performance in 2004 when sales slumped 7 per cent.

General Motors Corp. unveiled two key Canadian vehicles last week at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

There's a major facelift of the Impala sedan assembled at the company's complex in Oshawa, Ont., and the first SUV for GM's Pontiac division.

That's the Torrent, which will be assembled at the company's Cami Automotive Inc. joint venture assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ont., beginning as soon as April.

The Torrent joins the hot-selling Chevrolet Equinox SUV.

GM officials won't confirm that the Torrent will be assembled at Cami, jointly owned with Suzuki Motor Co. Ltd., but industry sources said the auto maker expects to crank out between 40,000 and 50,000 of the vehicles during a full year of production.

Assembly of the Torrent should push Cami production well above 200,000 vehicles a year, which would be a record for the GM-Suzuki joint venture.