There are some amongst us who hate auto shows in general and any given auto show in specific. They see the pistonhead conclaves as a soulless smorgasbord of automobiles in aspic, with side tables filled with deep fried hype. I don't share the antipathy. Where else can you go and see PR flacks spinning each other? It's like Paris after 911, when French café waiters were forced to be rude to each other. Oh yeah, and there are lots of cars for dissing, dismissing and, occasionally, drooling. Live, from New York! It's Here's What You Missed!
After years of W-THIST (Where the Hell is it?), Volkswagen is bringing a 50-state compliant diesel engine to the US, nestled into the snouts of the Rabbit and Jetta. Even better, VW has married the brawny diesel (140hp and 230 lb-ft of torque) with their world beating six speed DSG transmission. Best of all, the parsimonious granola eater's oil burner (40 mpg) is an ideal alternative to the thirsty AND anemic 2.5 liter buzz-box currently infesting the U.S. model range. So why not the Passat?
Dodge has Demons. Rumor has it someone still employed by DCX green lighted this hideous roadster for production. Boil that dust speck! Bargain-basement pricing assures The Dodge Boys another generous helping of razor thin profit margins. If Dodge wants to sell a true Sunday car, they should build one that appeals to the 50-somethings who might actually buy one, rather than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Ralph Gilles, why has thou forsaken us, bro?
Mercedes unveiled the new C-Class, which is definitely not a German taxi (except when it is) and the 500hp-ish CLK63 AMG Black Series, which will elevate the model into the top ranks of catastrophic depreciation. The C-Class is, get this, sexy. If its dynamics match its demeanor, if it drives more like the brick C-Class of the early and mid 1990s and less like the flaccid, rolling logo of the current millennium, Mercedes salesman will soon be sailing on high C sales. By the seashore.
The CX-F is a drop-dead gorgeous concept car from a Ford subsidiary on the brink of dropping dead. This four-wheeled Hail Mary pass is a radical departure from Jaguar's recent design heritage; it's got about as much to do with the S-Type as American car buyers. Ian Callum was at the New York auto show to talk the talk about how his company's new look can pull it back from the brink. Again. Still. But the CX-F concept car wasn't there to walk the talk. This led to some talk: why does someone want the CX-F to disappear? Or has Jag's ballroom budget been busted?
Audi brought their S5 coupe into the Big Apple, complete with the Audi R8's front end. The side profile is… um… let me check the photos… it is. Taken as a hole, the S5 plugs the last remaining gap in Audi's lineup (the one that helped you understand the difference between the various model sizes). If German pricing is any indication, the A5/S5 will make the A4/S4 look like a Blue Light Special. We're talking $46,639.19 and $63,064.33, before tax, title, registration and floor mats.
Lincoln's MKR concept revives the great American tradition of gaudy, sci-fi showcars. Luckily, only the Twin-Force (twin turbo six) powerplant is slated for production– despite rumors that the gargantuan grille may someday see service. The concept allegedly makes 415 horsepower, so we can bet on a final number closer to 315hp when all's said and done. If Ford pawns off Jaguar, Lincoln might actually be allowed to build its own cars again. If so, this engine– not the wacky sheetmetal– will help guide Lincoln's stewards towards what a luxury car should be.
Surprise! Kia didn't have the most exciting cars on display at the New York auto show. I wanted to ask a flackling a few questions, but their display was all about Pink Floyd. Is there anybody out there? out there? out there? Nope. The Kia Rondo taxi cab concept spoke for itself. As the Ford Crown Vic dies, the taxi fleet market is looking for the next cheap thing. With no upmarket retail image to sully, Kia would be happy to oblige.
Last but least, Toyota showed the ugliest car Toyota has built in recent memory. Whereas the new Camry and RAV4 sit somewhere between bland, sharp looking and modern, the new Highlander runs the gamut from vile to noxious to Nosferatu. Not to put too fine a point on it, it's a rolling emetic.
Strange to say, Toyota's becoming more American every day. Think about it: too many overlapping products (Highlander, RAV4, 4Runner), expecting ugly cars to sell on their strong brand name (Highlander) and investing in new SUVs while gas prices ascend to the heavens (Highlander). See? Another great reason to go to the show: you can watch assimilation in action. Or is that inaction?
Toyota in 2007 = Chevrolet in 1985?
OK so no mention of the Ford Flex, the Subaru Impreza, Infiniti G37 Coupe? The press days of autoshows may be stupid but the public days are not. Where else can you see, touch and sit in every current make and model all at once without someone trying to take you into the backroom wanting you to buy today?
My son can spend hours at an autoshow just getting in and out of cars, pushing buttons, opening compartments and so forth. Granted he’s four years old but at least we have a good time.
The female models are always the best part of the auto shows, not the cars. Somehow the car companies find ladies who not only look great, but speak very well and enjoy explaining the car to you.
Ok, you convinced me…auto shows don’t blow. :)
the Lincoln may be gaudy, but I kinda like it…
What did you think of the Maserati coupe?
The Impreza: Someone in the design department unwisely took a Chrysler Sebring/Crossfire grille, hotglued a Subaru badge over it, and labeled it as ‘upscale.’ Why Subaru insist on completely redoing their cars looks every two years nowadays is beyond me; there is seemingly no design continuity between the eras.
DrBiggly: They "fixed" the Tribeca with the Pacifica's front grill because ttac.com called the old front end a flying vagina. Oh and they also addressed the anemic engine issue flagged in the same review. Will the no-longer-a-B9 get off the next Ten Worst Automobiles Today (TWAT) list? We'll have an update later this month…
“too many overlapping products (Highlander, RAV4, 4Runner)”
I don’t have the specs on the new Highlander, but the old one was a mid size crossover-SUV built on the Camry platform. The RAV4 is a compact size built on the Corolla platform. The 4Runner is a mid-size built on a truck platform. The 2008 Highlander will be 3 inches longer than the 2007.
Thanks for completing the article with relevant pics. And the captions are golden!
“They “fixed” the Tribeca with the Pacifica’s front grill because ttac.com called the old front end a flying vagina.”
The ‘aviation’ theme is still there, it’s just been reduced to the Subaru badge in the middle of a curvy strip of chrome on both the new Tribeca and Impreza.
So I’d say it’s still a flying vagina, just more Prom Queen than Porn Queen sized this time around.
Is there any way to sort these posts in the reverse order chronologically? Reading from bottom to top is disconcerting.
Hang in there (upside down?).
The web guys will restore the normal sequence ASAP.
Jay Shoemaker:
Maserati GranTurismo is spectacular and stunning in person, far far more than in photographs. I love the look; if you get one, I’ll come knocking on your door for a ride.
Robert Schwartz
Although you are right to say that the Highlander, 4Runner, and RAV4 are far from identical, they definitely overlap on the showroom floor as substitute goods for one another. All offer three rows of seating. The RAV4 and Highlander are particularly similar – the platforms aren’t as distinct as “compact” and “midsize” anymore. They are both crossovers, they both offer the same 3.5 liter V6 (optional in the RAV), and they really are quite similar in size.
We can nitpick all we like about slight differences between the RAV4 and Highlander, and further with the 4Runner, but at the end of the day, these are 3 similar SUVs sitting on the same showroom floor.
sitting@home:
just more Prom Queen than Porn Queen sized this time around.
Aren’t those the same thing?
The Lincoln doesn’t jump out and say “buy me!”, but I can see it growing on me over time. It’s actually not half-bad.
Wow. I sorta like a Lincoln? Someone please check for zamboni’s in Hell.
The new Highlander looks OK, the lines are more interesting and livelier than in the previous version.
Everyone complains about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it….
I realize this is not the ‘correct’ place to post, but if you prefer time to flow forwards, and you use Firefox with Greasemonkey, you might like this.
The problem with today’s vehicles are those larger-than-life grilles. And humongous emblems. And plastichrome.
All of the vehicles pictured have gaping maws, with the exception of the Kia and the Benz (the holes in the bumper notwithstanding). I’ve seen the Lincoln in person, and the front end looks like a parody.
Why can’t we have the grilleless look back, complete with more sloping hoods? These aren’t the 70s you know. Or the 50s.
Whats wrong with highlander? I like it.
Great article, especially the insight about Toyota. Have they killed the Land Cruiser yet? It still amazes me that they can carry the ‘green’ flag while selling that ugly atrocity of a gas-guzzler.
Thanks for the exact adjective necessary when viewing the Dodge Demon. Hideous, indeed. How can you start off with the Miata, S2000, (and, godhelpme, Boxter), 20 years of lovely British roadsters, even the Z3 and come off with a car that makes the (nearly) hideous Z4 look good? Has Chris Bangle been rented out by BMW?
But, DCX, this is a chance to blow us all away. Mute the hideous details (and the ungainly Boxster butt) and bring this puppy in at 2100 pounds. Throw in a RWD 2.4 liter four and you’ll have our wallets out even if the appearance has been dialed back to inappropriately crosshaired “inoffensive”.
God save the roadster.
Hey, don’t criticize the Lincolns grill. It needs that to filter shrimp and krill from the seawater.
As for the Demon, aren’t roadsters (at least the not so expensive ones) supposed to look lithe and nimble?
Running down to the store for some fava beans and a nice Chianti
Brilliant caption. This Dr. Lecter wannabe by Lincoln is even more menacing (i.e. uglier) in person.
I suppose that the overpowering grill work (re-vitalized by DCX with the Ram and 300) is supposed to convey aggresiveness and power — the “New American Psyche”. Needless to say, this hurts gas mileage, which buyers of such vehicles actually enjoy, as they “stick it to” enviornmental concerns. Call it an undercurrent of rebellion/defiance, as the inevitable drought approaches, a lifting of the middle finger to the decending raptor of fossil fuel deprivation. Please, let’s have the Lincoln, so that those that use the last drops of oil can at least feel like they’re the Green (sic) Hornet…
Matt51: The female models are always the best part of the auto shows, not the cars. Somehow the car companies find ladies who not only look great, but speak very well and enjoy explaining the car to you.
Upon hearing that I was attending the auto show in Dallas, a colleague of mine challenged me to write an editorial that dedicated one short sentence to the cars and devoted the other 795 words to the spokespersons, namely of the female variety. I won’t be doing a full editorial on the topic but I’ll take this opportunity to pass on some observations.
First, while Toyota is making ever increasingly ugly cars and trucks they (including Lexus and Scion) take the prize for most attractive gaggle of spokeswomen.
Second, I had an unavoidable business teleconference during the time slot that Ford rolled out the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders to pitch their Texas edition F-150’s. Sajeev said it was no big deal but I don’t believe him.
Finally, Aston-Martin, which has the sexiest cars, was represented by a sulking middle-aged Englishman. I think this is where I spent the most time.
I suppose the moral of this story is that if your designers deliver the goods, you don’t need a drill team of hotty spokes models to distract customers from homely sheetmetal.
Wow, cute girl in that first picture.
I’ve observed that the auto shows and most conventions have ways of finding lovely young ladies to er..”man” the booths on the convention floor. And those booths are always packed with “50-something/Married-with-children” types.
They must know from experience what works.
But hey, do I see a change in strategy? I mean the male model in front of the Dodge.
William,
I live in Indianapolis, and the auto show here usually just has the same cars you can see at the dealer – really there would be no point in going wihout the babes. And I agree, Toyota is the class act in this regard.
ZoomZoom:
The “male model” in front of the Demon is the car’s designer, Ralph Gilles. Not so handsome now, eh?
I do not think the Highlander is ugly, bland but not ugly.
MKR-put some bunny ears on that thing they will go with the buck teeth front grills.
Most important showing was the new Subaru B9 and Impreza WRX.
B9 and Impreza are Subaru’s bread and butter if they do not sell they could be in hot water with partner Toyota.
kjc117:
I agree about the Impreza, that it must be a success for Subaru. It wasn’t covered here because I think the mainstream media, for the most part, has been accurate in saying that it looks
good enough. Subaru is introducing a boxer 4 cylinder diesel engine in Europe, which will hugely improve sales, there. The engine was not at the NY Auto Show for obvious reasons.
As for the Tribeca B9, sales have been horrible all along and I expect them to continue to be horrible. Perhaps Subaru would like it to be a bread and butter item, but it remains in the pickles and ice cream (not common) column.
There’s a good chance a Jetta SportWagen TDI will be my next car, even if CARB follows through with its threat to put an end to diesels’ smog-check asylum. >:(
And yes, Toyota definitely seems to be imitating Roger Smith-era GM’s doctrine of flooding the market with usually-redundant product. (I await a Yaris-based Lexus with baited breath…)
On Sympatico they had over a dozen pictures of the Dodge Demon, taken from all angles. The front and front quarter are it’s best angles. From the side, rear three quarter, and rear it is hideous.
From the tiny image on my laptop, that Highlander looks like a Forester. And the Forester, IMO, is the automotive version of a plaid flannel shirt–very nicely functional, and ugly style.
too many overlapping products
What other examples of overlapping products are there? Toyota’s lineup is probably the last one I would mention in terms of overlap.
I don’t have the specs on the new Highlander, but the old one was a mid size crossover-SUV built on the Camry platform. The RAV4 is a compact size built on the Corolla platform. The 4Runner is a mid-size built on a truck platform. The 2008 Highlander will be 3 inches longer than the 2007.
Thanks for bringing that up. 3 different vehicles on 3 different platforms. 2 are crossovers, one is a body-on-frameIt’s not even confirmed that there will be a next-gen 4Runner. Certainly not an overlap problem.
If one wanted to talk about overlap, no need to go further than GM’s new full size CUVs. There is the GMC cadia, the Saturn Outlook, a coming Chevy version, and a rumoured Cadillac version.
Toyota in 2007 = Chevrolet in 1985?
Not quite. Let’s all stop jumping to conclusions. In 1985, there were already many omnious signs that GM was in big trouble in the future, and instead of trying to improve the situation, GM continued making bad decisions all the way through the 90s up until 2007, where they still continue to make bad decisions.
Robert Farago responded to ZoomZoom:
“The “male model” in front of the Demon is the car’s designer, Ralph Gilles. Not so handsome now, eh?”
Haha, I suppose that shows you how little I take note of “who’s who” in the automotive world.