Video: 2025 New York Auto Show Winners and Losers

Lots of opinions. On what are the winners... And which are the losers... For any given auto show. So here are our winners and losers for the 125th annual New York Auto Show. (funky groovy upbeat music) We are starting with the 2026 Hyundai Palisade, and not only is it in this gorgeous Robust Emerald Green color, but it has a hybrid powertrain, turbocharged hybrid powertrain, not very common these days. I think that's an excellent addition to the big three-row lineup. Yeah, I think that's a really nice thing to have here. They're saying it's gonna get 30 plus miles per gallon on the highway, which is great. Still has a lot of the space and comfort we've really liked about this vehicle in this updated package. Yeah, it was a unanimous winner for all of us, but I am a little curious about that one. Ah. Yeah. of the Palisade. I don't imagine there's any family taking their Palisade off-road. The thing is expensive, matte paint, that's gonna get scratched and be really hard to wash. I get why Hyundai had to do this, everyone has to have an off-road version of their SUV these days, and it looks cool, but I think, probably, your better bet is to stick with one of the on-road versions. This one's a little bit nicer. Yeah, I agree, especially from an aesthetic standpoint. As cool as that does look with those tow hooks, I'm definitely gonna be going for the standard one. unanimous winner. Oh, yeah, absolutely. (funky upbeat-rock music) So another unanimous winner, for our winners and losers list, is this, the new 2026 Kia K4 Hatchback. Now, if you like the K4 Sedan, but maybe you weren't terribly thrilled with all of the K4 Sedan's looks, this thing fixes a lot of the ills. Yeah, the K4 Sedan had kind of a weird C-pillar, this cleans it up nicely. A nice, long low roof, but still have a lot of nice space inside in the second row, a lot of the really upscale features the regular K4 Sedan has too. Any new hatchback is a winner in my book. And, check out this exclusive color, Sparkling Yellow, cannot beat it, I love it. on the show floor. I bet you, it's gonna look even better outside. But, again, Kia K4 Hatchback, unanimous winner. Winner. The 2026 Kia EV4; a new electric sedan from Kia, a really oddly shaped sedan. I didn't like it one bit, particularly though, because of the interior packaging of it. The backseat, really odd shape, we're leaning back, not comfortable at all. What'd you guys think of it? Well, the styling is the obvious thing that grabs you, and there's distinctive good and distinctive bad. And, unfortunately, this thing is really kind of trending towards distinctive bad, you know? A lot of people want a Tesla Model 2, and Tesla's been promising one for a very long time, it's apparently nowhere in sight. We were hoping this was gonna take its place, but there's just too many things wrong with this. As you said in terms of the interior packaging, the tight back seat, the visibility out isn't great. And, I mean, look at this thing, and the back end, frankly, just doesn't make any sense to me at all. I'm gonna have to wait to see pricing when it comes out for the EV4, because I'm really surprised that Kia, for its small EV lineup, did not decide to launch with the EV3 in the United States, which it is said, it plans to bring here. I think a small crossover SUV hatch-like would do a much better job in this segment. We'll see if this undercuts it significantly, but, for now, it's kind of a loser in my book. Yeah, I agree, I think the EV3 would've been a better thing to start with at the lower-end, but, right now, this one, unanimous thumbs down. Yeah. (intriguing funky upbeat music) Maybe the most controversial new vehicle here at the New York Auto Show is the new 2026 Subaru Outback, but we all rated it a winner. Frankly, it's boxy, but I like the boxiness, I think it kind of hearkens back to when Volvo wagons were cool as well. And it still is a wagon, it doesn't have the new SUV thing that everyone's going for. They kept the wagon-ness of it, but added a little bit of boxiness to it, but they fixed everything that was wrong with the old Outback. Yeah. The thing I really like about it is the new interior controls, the new multimedia system, the new separated climate control, it's all really easy to use right there. A huge improvement over what the Outback had before. Total winner, and I just love some of the dissenting voices that say that, "Oh, it lost its wagon-ness." The Outback for so long has been so far moved from being an actual wagon, that this is just kind of reflecting what it's been for so long. Total winner, looks good. Unanimous winner from all of our judges, new '26 Outback. Mm-hmm. (intriguing funky upbeat music) The 2026 Solterra, it's been updated. I liked it, it has more range, around 285 miles now, better fast charging, some updated styling, new tech inside, but I think you guys have a few different views. Yeah, we did not all vote this as a winner. I actually voted this one as a loser, because it's still got some issues with it, like, where the gauge placement is, that's a big problem for a lot of people, and it might be a little bit more competitive, but it's still not fully competitive with things like Hyundai and Kia. And, frankly, anybody considering one of these isn't gonna want one after they see what's coming next from Subaru in terms of electric cars. Yeah. For the most part, I voted this the winner, just because it improved upon, what is kind of, roundly, in my opinion, the least competitive EV on the market alongside its Toyota cousin. So any kind of marked improvement in that regard, with range and power, thumbs up in my book. But, yeah, I kind of, I agree with Aaron halfway between. Kind of mixed on this. So some mixed views on this one, but moving on. Subaru has another electric here, we wanna check that one out, too. Can't wait to see that one, yeah. (intriguing funky upbeat music) So, the 2026 Subaru Trailseeker, probably, in my opinion, kind of the biggest surprise at this auto show. Even though we had a teaser of it, we didn't really kind of know what to expect. And from what I've been led to believe, this is underneath a kind of stretched version of the updated Solterra. I think it's great, because it's the most powerful of the bunch, 375 horsepower, 4.3 seconds zero to 60, let's see your STI try that. That's pretty good. And if you miss wagons, like the Outback, hope you like EVs, 'cause this is the new Subaru wagon. Yeah, this is basically what I think every current Solterra owner has been clamoring for. Something with a bit more room, something that looks like an Outback, maybe they wanna go up to an Outback, but they don't wanna give up their electric vehicle architecture. Here it is. It's six-inches longer than a Solterra, has all the new Solterra stuff, so it's got a bigger battery, it's got more range, it's got more performance, and now it's got a bigger back. Yeah, it's got that nice cargo area in the back, some underfloor storage too, which is nice, and it's kept the roominess of the cabin too with some of the updated tech from the Solterra also here as well in terms of multimedia. So a nice overall package. You mentioned kind of the Outback wagon look, yeah, I mean, that's kinda what this delivers in EV form. Yeah. Total winner in my book. Only thing that's not great though is the rage, 260 miles. So if you're gonna take this thing off-road into the wilderness, how are you getting back? Plan ahead. (chuckles) Oh, yeah. These are just a fraction of the cars at the New York Auto Show. And like other auto shows, this is a great place to come if you're shopping for a new car, 'cause you can see everything that you're interested, or most of everything, all under one roof to help narrow your choices to find what's right for you. And, of course, if you want our full coverage of this year's New York Auto Show, you gotta go to cars.com/news. (funky upbeat music)