Jaguar and Mercedes tried the hardest, but the New York motor show was about just one car, the Range Rover Sport.
Sure, having James Bond behind the wheel helped generate the sort of global headlines to make marketing mean leap for joy, but that shouldn’t be allowed to overshadow the triumph of the all-new Sport. Like it or loathe it, the off-roader that owners love to drive in sprawling cities is a car that demands attention.
What’s remarkable is just how far Land Rover has pushed the Sport. Lighter, faster, more efficient, stiffer, more agile…...the list of improvements is long and the margin of the improvements, on paper at least, hugely significant. Make no mistake, Land Rover could have done less and earned more, but this is a thriving company that can smell an even brighter future; taking liberties with its halo products isn’t something it’s about to do.
Jaguar’'s presence was minor by comparison, but you had to admire the way it went about generating a buzz with its small selling but high impact XJR and XKR-S GT Here, you sense, is a company biding its time, putting in the groundwork for an explosive future. For now, projects that push the boundaries of existing cars are fine, but once the F-Type is bedded in, we should expect the upcoming small saloon and SUV to deliver booming sales. In New York, though, it was probably satisfying enough to have cash buyers on the stand demanding immediate delivery of the GT.
Of the rest, the Mercedes CLA45 AMG provided an amusing diversion, dampened slightly by the slightly muted drive verdicts of the standard car, the new Kia Soul looked great but seems likely to continue to mystify European buyers slightly, and the Subaru WRX’'s potential impact was muted by its maker’s insistence on keeping it under wraps until the second day of the show.
Elsewhere on the show floor, it was a case of where your tastes took you. Not even Daniel Craig got the crowds whooping and hollering as loudly as the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, while the new Jeep Cherokee, Chrysler 200, SRT Viper TA and Shelby Mustang GT500 S/C 1000 all had their fair share of homegrown chutzpah.
No matter. Every show only needs one star to shine. And in New York that star was straight from the A-list.
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Mmmmmmm!?
NMGOM2@
Well, talking to a Seat sales person the other week thins are quite flat, infact,they are having to sell used VW cars,maybe it's not too bad down South, but up here, i think selling cars isn't doing well, unless your moving prestige brands?.When i said nothing would be of interest, i was talking about the US product.......
New York Auto Show
Peter Cavellini - - -
All auto shows have a mixture of local and international emphasis in varying proportions, and target different clientelle groups with different price points. Geneva certainly hit big-ticket, international, splashy super-cars heavily, for example.
The NYIAS was more mundane, and meant more for the American audience. But within that context, there were plenty of cars that would make a huge impression there, with the Range Rover Sport perhaps not strongly among them. Examples: Mercedes CLA 45 AMG; Golf Mk7 and GTI; Buick LaCrosse; GMC Sierra Pick-up; Lexus ES; Subaru XV Hybrid; Acura RLX; Toyota Avalon; Cadillac CTS; Camaro Z/28; Bently Continental GTC; Jaguar XJR; and SRT Viper TA.
There already is plenty of rather intense competition in the semi-offroad, SUV category: BMW X3 and X5; Audi Q types; Mercedes G-Class; Jeep Wrangler and Cherokee; and others. And I won't even mention fully decked-out, 4WD, 4-door pick-up trucks that can go anywhere and have nearly as much luxury as a Rolls-Royce. What uniquely does the Range Rover Sport bring to the table in America? Very little, indeed, except perhaps some brand cachet from the marque, "Rover".
Also, it is simply not true that there was nothing shown that would not be of interest on the London or Berlin side of the Pond. How about The Bentley Continental GTC or the Jaguar XJR or various VW Golf versions? Even Jeep is selling like hotcakes in Europe through Fiat distributors.
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Mmmmmmm!?
Having strolled through the 39 images, i can only conclude that Car design in America nearly always goes with concept,which produces some weird looking cars,cars that would only sell in the USA,maybe they don't have to go global?, maybe there home market is big enough?, who knows, but, why are we looking at these cars?,apart from BMW,VW,Mercedes which sell on the prestige ticket,our home market is more important,more relevant, i can't see any influence that would come from across the Pond.