The Car Spy

There have been 112 shows featuring cars in New York before the one that is taking place this year. That is a lot of car shows. In fact, the NY show has been around longer than most famous car manufacturers selling their wares today. It is the biggest in the USA and the best well-attended.

So it is very important, at least for Americans, while Europe still considers Geneva and Frankfurt to be the two main catwalks for launching new models.

Does that really matter? Probably not in today’s hyper-connected world of communication because now you don’t have to leave your armchair to stay well-informed of the latest product launches. However, the NY show is important for any car maker that wants to score well in the US of A. Just ask Jaguar Land Rover. They even wheeled in Daniel Craig aka James Bond to drive the new Sport through the streets of the Big Apple.

JLR chose New York to launch the Sport version of the latest Range Rover even though they could have done the job a couple of weeks ago in Switzerland. Wise move? Well consider that from an economics point of view Europe is currently pedalling backwards while the US has found first gear and has its foot firmly on the gas.

In other words, there are more people in the States who can afford to buy and drive a Range Rover Sport than there are in Europe. It’s a no-brainer.

And it’s not just JLR who recognised this obvious fact. The (South) Koreans are rapidly making their mark on the automotive world and they were busy showing design concepts that hint at what is to come from the land of Samsung and LG. Badge snobs might sneer at anything that KIA and Hyundai produce but times are a-changing so be prepared to be impressed. It is only a matter of time.

So what else was there to see?

The home-grown newbies featured the Cadillac CTS looking lean and wearing a very sharp-suit. Will it come to Europe? It should do, us Europeans need a bit more choice over our diet of Audis, Mercs and BMW’s.

A make-over for the Chrysler 300C is much-welcomed and a bit less 1990’s old-school thinking will also help it win friends in the UK at least.

The US-led assault also included the Camaro Z28, Challenger SRT8 392, Charger SRT8 392, the new Jeep Cherokee, Dodge Durango, the mental SRT Viper TA and the even more mental Shelby 1000. Enough horsepower from that lot to make the world spin in the opposite direction.

Back to the Brits and Jaguar heralded their new XJR on steroids and the limited edition (US-only) XKR-S GT, Bentley paraded their new Flying Spur and the Wraith from Rolls Royce was flaunting itself to Yanks with deep pockets. They all felt right at home, like British rock bands from the 60’s looking to make it big in America.

The Koreans, as usual, were looking to impress with their new-found confidence in car design. OK, some concepts are a little too quirky for our sensitive Western tastes but they showed an inventiveness and bravery that seems to be missing from mainstream manufacturers in Europe at present.

Amongst the usual copious amounts of metal from Japan was the Infiniti Q50S, Scion tC, stunning Subaru WRX concept (to hopefully replace the current ugly-duckling model), Subaru SV Crosstrek Hybrid, Mitsubishi Mirage and Outlander plus the odd-ball NV200 New York Taxi by Nissan.

Finally the Europeans stepped in with the Volvo S60 R Design (they can do no wrong in the US),  the impressive-looking CLA45 AMG from Mercedes and the latest incarnation of the VW Golf which snatched the ‘World Car of The Year’ trophy from under everybody’s noses.

Check out the images from the show as follows:-