What drivers can look forward to at this year’s New York auto show
While many luxury car makers are skipping the North American event or opting for what the industry calls a “mid-cycle refresh”, a few bright spots are getting our engine running. Koenigsegg, anyone?
At the Geneva International Motor Show this month, big luxury had its day. Maserati showed its US$72,000 Levante SUV; Bentley debuted a stretch-limo version of its US$304,000 Mulsanne; Rolls-Royce gave us a blacked-out version of its US$296,000 Ghost. And that’s not to mention the unveiling of the US$2.6 million Bugatti Chiron.
Next week in New York, luxury car makers are catching their breath. Which means many of them – McLaren, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, Tesla, Fisker, and Cadillac – are skipping it altogether. (Tesla, for its part, will unveil the Model 3 on March 31.)
“I think most of the auto manufacturers are entering the show with a feeling of what I would call ‘hopeful trepidation’,” says Jack Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book. “Sales results in the US so far this year have been positive, but there remains an aura of ‘When will the next shoe drop?’ Presidential election years are notoriously volatile.”
It still behoves many car brands to show what they can in the world’s most important vehicle market, North America. Manufacturers know they can’t let products sit in the marketplace for more than a couple of years without at least giving consumers the impression that they’ve changed, so a key theme this year will be the “mid-cycle refresh”. That’s industry jargon for making a car look new by redoing the aesthetics on the front grille or side body lines without redesigning it from the ground up.
