2012 Sao Paulo Motor Show

Brazil has long been known for one thing: ethanol. Ever since the national pro alcohol campaign was set up in 1975 in response to the oil crisis at the time, Brazilian drivers have been hooked on the eco-fuel produced from sugar cane. These days, well over 90 percent of cars sold in Brazil are flex-fuel (they can run on either ethanol or gas or a combination of the two) and the country is entirely independent from foreign oil imports.

Thanks to that independence plus strong exports of raw materials and big domestic demand, the Brazilian economy has been growing rapidly every year since 2003. It's now the fourth largest car market in the world with 3.5 million cars sold last year and annual sales are on course to hit four million vehicles by 2014.

What was apparent at the 2012 Sao Paulo Motor Show was that major manufacturers from around the world no longer see Brazil as just a quirky ethanol-dependent region in Latin America, but rather as a market key to their overall success. Rather than throwing Brazil old cars full of old technology with new faces grafted on, the handful of targeted concepts and production cars on display in Sao Paulo proved that as the Chinese market slows down and Western Europe falls to its knees, the car industry is ready to give Brazil the respect it deserves.

Nobody knows Brazilian car buyers quite like Volkswagen. It started building cars here in 1953 an operation that consisted of assembling Kombis and Beetles in a shed -- before opening its Anchieta plant in 1959. In 2011, VW had a 20.4-percent share of the market and built 882,444 cars at four factories. Its top-selling model, the Gol, has been the best-seller in Brazil for 25 years straight.

It was VW who stole the show with the Taigun concept. Sitting on a slightly stretched version of the Up! city car's platform, it's VW's first attempt at an SUV that sits below the Tiguan in the brand's lineup. For taxation reasons, anything with a 1.0-liter engine or smaller (the Taigun has the same three-cylinder 1.0-liter turbocharged gas engine from the Up! GT concept) and with good ground clearance (to help tackle the masses of unpaved roads outside the cities) is bound to be popular in Brazil, but VW has bolder ambitions for this car.

If it makes production, it would not only be offered in South America, but around the world. "The prospects for the Taigun being seen at Volkswagen dealers someday are quite high -- what is crucial here is the overall response of the public to this concept," an official VW release proclaimed. A quick look up close confirmed that everything from the split-tailgate to the colorful interior is virtually production ready and judging by the frenzied reaction of the crowds, expect to see this one in showrooms by 2014.

The other standout concept was the Nissan Extrem -- an 'urban coupe crossover' designed at the Nissan Design America studios in San Diego and built in Brazil. Based on the same platform as the March, it previews a small crossover that could slip neatly into the range below the Qashqai and Juke -- and judging by Nissan's huge success when it comes to mold-breaking crossovers, this could be the next big thing.

"This is definitely a signal that we want to build something like this," Robert Bauer, Senior Design manager for NDA, explained. "It pushes the boundaries in terms of styling, but we make concepts that can go into production rather than messing around with styling exercises. In this case we said, OK, let's make something exciting but feasible."

Don't expect to be able to buy an Extrem anytime soon, though, as it is just our first glimpse at what Nissan is cooking up for the future. However, according to Shiro Nakamura, Nissan's design boss: "The strong character of the headlights and grille will carry through to the rest of the range."

Elsewhere in the delightfully compact exhibition center, Renault and Honda were tuning in to precisely what Brazilian buyers like above all else -- plastic body cladding. Apparently, market research shows that Brazilians like their cars to look as tough as possible, which is why models like the Honda Fit Twist (identical to the standard car, but with plastic wheel arches for a more rugged stance) and the Renault DCross concept (a beefed up version of the low-cost Duster SUV) have been dreamt up.

As for the other big American and European players -- including Chrysler, Jaguar Land Rover, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Ford, and Chevrolet -- there weren't any spanking new concepts or world debuts, but the crucial thing was that they were there, showing recognition of how pivotal the Brazilian market has become.