Chicago auto show

While the 2021 Chicago Auto Show may not be as large as it has been in previous years, several vehicles made their public debut — particularly electric ones.

Cars.com reviewers Mike Hanley, Joe Wiesenfelder and Brian Normile trekked the show floor and came away most impressed with the 2022 Ford Maverick. Here’s why.

Although the 2021 Chicago Auto Show looks different from previous years, what hasn’t changed is the plethora of new vehicles, special editions and concept cars to get excited about.

The simple truckiness of the 2022 Ford Maverick is sure to appeal to some shoppers. It did to us.

The 2021 Chicago Auto Show gave us a chance to check out Kia’s first foray from the ground up into the battery-electric vehicle market with the 2022 Kia EV6 all-electric crossover.

The 2022 F-150 Lightning will get a lot of attention on the show circuit, as it should, but it will be more for what it is and what it represents than for the impression it makes up close.

While the new eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf GTI and Golf R debuted in their European specs last year, we’ve had to wait until the 2021 Chicago Auto Show for the U.S.-specific versions to make their debuts, both as 2022 models.

The Jeep Compass compact SUV was last redesigned for 2017, and it’s been refreshed for 2022 with minor exterior styling updates and an overhauled interior with more tech features.

The 2023 Nissan Ariya all-electric SUV enters a growing field of battery-electric SUVs from more mainstream automakers, and we got our first chance to check it out at the 2021 Chicago Auto Show.