Governments around the world may be willing to bail out car manufacturers, but car shows are a different story entirely. In January, the Detroit show saw several cutbacks. In March, the British show was cancelled, and only last month, a comment made by the American magazine Motor Trend summed up the mood of the Japanese show with the headline: ‘The last carmaker at the Tokyo Motor Show, please turn out the lights’.

Part of the problem comes from the obvious cuts in marketing budgets manufacturers are now having to make, but the obstacle facing the Dubai International Motor Show, which starts this month, is that the UAE – unlike its European, American and Japanese counterparts – doesn’t have its own car industry to help fill the floor space and, along with the British show, is considered more of a consumer affair when compared to the big, industry heavy hitters of Frankfurt, Paris and Geneva.

Still, the headlines for the tenth anniversary of the show that’s billed as the Middle East’s premier automotive event are eye-catching: 14 global launches, 40 regional launches and 200 new models are the outlining figures. It’ll be a no-show from Lambroghini, Porsche, Subaru or Honda, and models-per-manufacturer are on the slim side, but some carmakers out there are putting their hopes on the Dubai show.

Among them is Kepler Motors – a small California-based company no one has heard of before – who’s set to unveil its debut car, the Motion. So far it’s only been previewed in computer renderings and details are worse than sketchy; all we can see is that it’s in the ilk of a sportscar. We won’t know for sure if it’s more Aston DBS than Ferrari Enzo

until we see what lies under the flesh.

One car that seems to be going after the Enzo (and looks to have more than one panel in common with the Fezza) is the Arash AF-10. The all-carbon fibre British supercar with a 7-litre Chevy V8 will undoubtedly turn some heads, along with the 1287bhp SSC Ultimate Aero and 1104bhp, Danish, Zenvo ST1.

Moving a little further down the horsepower chain, we’ll see the new Aston Martin Rapide and One-77 (still in its concept form), Nissan GT-R V-Spec, Bentley Mulsanne and Continental Supersports and the Lexus LFA. Not the actual production car mind, but the racecar that took part in the Nürburgring 24 hours this year at the hands of Toyota president Akio Toyoda. Mercedes will have its much-celebrated SLS AMG, along with a new anniversary ‘Edition 79’ G-Wagen, so expect to see a crowd at the ’Benz stand.

If you’re going to be looking for the left-field cars, you may be happy to hear that the region’s hunger for SEMA-type modified concoctions will mean Swiss tuning house Fab Design will unveil a ‘Widebody’ Panamera (the four-door Porsche could do with a restyle) and country-counterparts BF Performance will be the ones providing the Lamborghini (albeit a heavily modified one) in the guise of a restyled and fettled Murcielago GT660. Brabus will also make an appearance, but so far it’s keeping tight-lipped about its global debut car.

Of the concepts, the one that’ll be worth heading for will be the BMW M1 Hommage. It was built last year to mark the 30th anniversary of the M1 supercar. It’s a modern interpretation of the original and striking it certainly is. The reason it’s worth a look is that concepts like this one often inspire – or work as a base for – the production car, and this M1 doesn’t seem too far fetched to be a world away from production.

And neither is the Cadillac CTS Coupe. In fact, it has gone from concept into production reality. Powered by a 3.6-litre, 304bhp direct-injection V6 from the CTS saloon, it’s a 2+2 that’ll go on sale at the tail end of next year and will be followed by a 556bhp

CTS-V version that GM promises will do 0-100kph in 3.8secs and will be available as a manual.

If you’re planning on visiting the Dubai show, doors open at the Dubai Internationl Convention and Exhibition Centre on December 16 and close at the end of December 20.