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More Coverage from the New York Auto Show |
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2009 New York International Auto Show: A Little of Everything |  | |
On Wednesday, Cars.com will bring you live coverage from the New York International Auto Show, which opens to the public on Friday. The media previews at each of the major auto shows has a character all its own. In the past decade, the Los Angeles show has typically been heavy on environmentally friendly cars and eye candy. The Detroit show has a lot of everything but is dominated by the resident domestics, and the Chicago show tends to be heavy on trucks. The New York show is like the Detroit show but on a smaller scale, with more emphasis on German and other European brands that sell well in the Northeast, a bit less activity from the American brands and a healthy showing from ultra-luxury manufacturers, as well.
The auto industry's travails made for less big news in Detroit and Chicago earlier this year, and the New York introductions looks to be muted as well, but the mix is still there. Jeep will raise the American flag for Chrysler, and the only model that's really due for an update is the flagship Grand Cherokee, so we're confident we'll be seeing a 2010 model.
A definite all-new model that's already green-lighted for production is the Acura ZDX, a luxury crossover with four doors and a coupelike roofline. It's unclear whether this will be a prototype — which Acura usually hyphenates, as in ZD-X — or the real deal, which is expected this fall. A similar story, Mitsubishi will show the Outlander GT Prototype, an update of the company's small SUV that will take on the styling of the Lancer compact sedan. Scion is introducing a concept car that sources tell us is based on the tiny Toyota iQ commuter car. It looks like the little booger might come to the U.S. after all, with a Scion badge.
Another new model (or is it?) is the Volkswagen Golf. We'd say the Golf hatchback is returning after a few years' hiatus, but it never went away: It was renamed Rabbit, and now it's changing back, but it's more than just the badge. The 2010 Golf has been lightly restyled both outside and inside. The performance version, the GTI, has also been updated and retains its name.
A GTI rival returns in the 2010 Mazdaspeed3, our first look at the turbocharged performance version of the fully redesigned 2010 Mazda3, which we first reported on at the Los Angeles auto show in November 2008. Mazda also teases that a "heavily revised" 2010 CX-9, its large crossover, and a refreshed (that would mean lightly revised) 2010 CX-7 five-seat crossover will be at the New York show.
Other updates include the 2010 Subaru Legacy sedan, which is a complete redesign. In the past, the Legacy has been redone and introduced at roughly the same time as the Outback wagon, but at this point its appearance in New York has merely been rumored.
Though Nissan isn't staging a formal introduction, it will show off the 370Z Roadster on the eve of the press preview. Check back Tuesday night for our impressions.
As always, the Germans will be there in force. Porsche, which sat out this year's Detroit auto show entirely, will be showing off the 2010 911 GT3 for the first time in North America. BMW has given its X6 crossover/coupe/SUV-type vehicle the M treatment, so expect a version with more horsepower, bigger brakes and a bigger price tag, called the X6 M. Mercedes-Benz will host the world premiere of the E63 AMG, the performance version of the midsize E-Class sedan, boasting 518 horsepower. On the other end of the spectrum, Mercedes' first hybrid SUV, the ML450 Hybrid, finally appears as the real thing after being shown off at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. It's powered by the 2-Mode system co-developed with GM. Lightly restyled for 2010, the GL-Class large SUV will appear in GL450 gasoline and GL350 BlueTEC clean-diesel versions. If you want to split the difference, look for the E300 BlueTEC Hybrid, an E-Class concept car that combines the two technologies for mileage that's expected to be significantly higher than either system alone.
It wouldn't be an auto show without true concept cars, the ones that hint at future models or design directions but aren't claimed to represent coming production models. Hyundai will hint at the next-generation Santa Fe midsize SUV with its Nuvis (New Utility Vision) concept. As for GM, the only thing we expect for sure is a concept from GMC; as of today there's still speculation, but we expect to publish more details on it in KickingTires ahead of the media preview.
It also wouldn't be an auto show — or at least a New York auto show — without some exotics. Look for the North American debut of the production version of the Spyker C8 Aileron, a sports car from the Netherlands that we ogled in prototype form at last year's Los Angeles show.
There's little solid intel on other all-new model intros, which could reflect the state of the industry, but there are usually a few surprises that we didn't see coming. As for showgoers, you can expect to see many of the great production and concept cars we've detailed from the other recent auto shows, along with the new stuff detailed above, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
Ticket and Show Information
Public show: Friday, April 10-Sunday, April 19
11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sundays
Location: Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 11th Avenue between 34th and 39th streets
Tickets: Adults, $14; children (under 12), $4; $2 off for groups of 10 or more | |
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