Cars, trucks, SUVs and crossover vehicles -- you'll find them all at the Seattle International Auto Show.

The big show began its five-day run on Wednesday at the Qwest Field Event Center and there's a lot to see.

You'll find concept cars, hybrids and alternate-fuel vehicles on display.

There's even a 2009 model: the all-new Ford Flex Crossover. It gets points for design and interior room. It seats up to seven very comfortably. And the seats also fold down for hauling cargo.

Today's buyers are very demanding. Jonathan Linkov with Consumer Reports Autos said consumers want good looks as well as good performance and safety.

"People want to find cars that fit their lifestyle, but also give them good fuel economy," he said. "You're looking at room, every car in every generation grows a little bit. It's growing with the size of Americans, it's also growing with the size of what we carry."

Here are some of the new and notable 2008 vehicles headed your way.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has been completely redesigned. It combines looks, performance and handling. The four-door, five-passenger family sedan has four-wheel drive and a turbo-charged four-cylinder engine. A five-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard.

"It's a big boy racer type of car. Lots of young drivers as well as old kids at heart will like this car," Linkov said.

The Nissan Rogue is a four-cylinder SUV based on the Sentra sedan. It has the same 2.5-liter engine that's in the Altima. The Rogue is smaller than Nissan's Murano SUV, so it gets better fuel economy but is still roomy enough for five.

"It's Nissan's first really small SUV that's going to compete with the Honda CRV, the Toyota Rav4 and the new Saturn Vue," said Linkov. "It's a really interesting vehicle."

Saturn has a new entry-level hatchback -- the Astra. The sporty compact delivers performance and good fuel economy. The Astra is based on General Motor's Opel Astra, which was Europe's best-selling car in 2006.

"What will be interesting about this car is to see if American buyers will jump on a car that has European styling and European influences. There are buyers who want a European car. There are buyers who want American. Will the traditional American buyers from Saturn want a car with European influence?"}

For 2008, Subaru has finally come up with an updated design of the Impreza. The new model is a bit bigger and has better interior materials, although you won't mistake it for a luxury car. Both the sedan and the hatchback versions have all-wheel drive. The sporty WRX version has 224 horsepower turbo-charged engine.

This year, Ford has freshened up the Focus, which was getting kind of long in the tooth. You can get a coupe or a sedan, but the hatchback is now gone.

"It does look a little better, some of the materials on the interior are nicer. It does come with electronic stability control and side curtain air bags, which are a big plus," Linkov said.

And check out the Volvo C-30. It's a small, sporty hatchback with a funky rear window. The C-30 holds four, but is not meant to be a family car. It comes with a 227-horsepower turbo-charged in-line five-cylinder engine. Yes, it moves! Motor Trend Magazine calls the C-30 "the sharpest tool in Volvo's shed."

I have one more model to note, and it's not one you'll see at the auto show.

It's the new Chevy Malibu, which was officially unveiled to Seattle-area reporters on Thursday.

This is not your parents' or grandparents' Malibu. It's a good-looking mid-size sedan. Chevy is hoping the Malibu will compete with the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord, so a lot of work has been done on the model's style, both inside and out.

The Malibu has a four-cylinder four-speed automatic transmission. It's also available with a 3.6-liter six-cylinder engine. Word is that Chevy is so confident about the Malibu that it will put models from the competition in showrooms, so consumers can compare them on the spot.