New York Auto Show: Mostly Power, Some Prudence
By Michelle Krebs April 9, 2009By Bill Visnic
Proof that automakers are still struggling to align their product pipelines with the "new sensibility" forced on the U.S. auto market: the number of big-power, big-money new models outweighs the more prudent wares being unveiled at the New York auto show this week.
One might be forgiven for thinking it is a late-'90s Frankfurt or Detroit show, given the sheer number of horses under the hoods of some of the more prominent New York show debutantes. (Press days run Wednesday and Thursday; the show opens to the public Friday.)
Consider the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG enjoying its world debut in New York: its 6.2-liter V8, massaged by Mercedes' AMG in-house tuner unit, barks out 518 horsepower, has a sophisticated new seven-speed automatic transmission a price that will whisper at the six-figure mark.
No less can be said for Land Rover's 2010 Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models, either of which can be had with a new, Jaguar-derived 5.0-liter supercharged V8 good for a definitely un-humble 510 horsepower (Land Rover and Jag recently passed their first year of ownership by India's Tata Motors). The new Rovers' non-supercharged V8 manages 375 horsepower, but either way, these aren't the SUVs for those worried about whether their 401(k)'s "coming back" or if gas will top $4 a gallon again this summer.
One of the more noteworthy showings in New York is another SUV: Jeep's 2011 Grand Cherokee. With about three weeks before the showdown with President Obama's auto-industry task force that will decide the near-term disposition of Jeep owner Chrysler LLC, the Grand Cherokee might be as much a curiosity for highlighting the question of who might end up building it as it is for being the first Grand Cherokee to sit on a genuine unibody platform (that of the Mercedes-Benz M-Class, the shared remnant of Daimler AG's former ownership of Chrysler).
The 2011 Grand Cherokee also presents the first look at Chrysler's new "Phoenix" V6 engine architecture. Chrysler says the 3.6-liter Phoenix V6 develops 280 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. That's a big jump over the 210 horses coming from the 3.7-liter V6 in today's
Grand Cherokee, but the company also claims the new Phoenix design will deliver some 11 percent better fuel economy.
Rival General Motors Corp. also is showing up in New York with a new SUV for its GMC division, the 2010 Terrain. The Terrain's not really an SUV, given that it also rides on a unibody chassis, the same global front-/all-wheel-drive layout used by the coming Chevrolet Equinox and Cadillac SRX. Therefore the Terrain's existence seems to underscore one problem GM is struggling to convince that same Obama task force the company can fix: that GM has too many overlapping models for too many divisions and dealers.
Another GMC SUV-clone unveiled in New York is the Yukon Denali Hybrid, a more-money variant of the Yukon Hybrid that already costs too much money. In the Yukon Denali Hybrid's case, one pays $62,030 for an all-wheel-driver fronting GM's exquisite-but-expensive Two-Mode hybrid system and an estimated 21-mpg city fuel economy -- a giant leap over the 12 mpg city/18 mpg highway of the conventional AWD Denali.
Maybe searching for some type of auto-show feng shui, GM also unveiled prior to the New York show press preview its Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility (PUMA), a two-wheeled city-"car" prototype developed in cooperation with Segway Inc.
Looking like rickshaw-meets-Stanley Kubrick, the two-seat PUMA is based on the high-tech
electronics and running gear that make Segway's Personal Transporter such a marvel. The unit balances itself and can travel up to 35 miles at speeds reaching 35 mph -- and if today's Smart car is the ultimate urban runabout, then the PUMA certainly expands on that idea by being even easier to park and maneuver, not to mention burning no 
fuel.
Ford Motor Co. shows up in New York with the Transit Connect Family One concept, a look at how its upcoming Transit light-commercial vehicle might be adapted for personal use. The Family One concept has all manner of strange built-in conveniences, including a video player that projects onto a large sunscreen that divides the passenger compartment from the driver area. If this is Ford's idea of a minivan substitute, well....
A couple other powerful and pricey New York unveilings include Nissan's 370Z roadster and Porsche's 2010 911 GT3, the latest in the storied GT3 lineage, now with 435 horsepower and a $112,000 price.
But the New York show's over-the-top prize goes to BMW AG and its duo of crossovers pumped up by its M tuning division, BMW's first M-modified crossovers. The already profligate X6 (a guilty pleasure for many auto journalists) accepts the M treatment highlighted by a twin-turbo V8 that churns out a ridiculous 555 horsepower. Same story, slightly different sausage shape for the X5 M.
Subaru is showing up in the Apple with an all-new and ill-advisedly larger and more powerful Legacy midsizer, complete with a bigger 3.6-liter horizontally opposed six-cylinder and the first continuously variable transmission serving as the automatic for four-cylinder Legacys.
One new model, uncharacteristically unpreviewed to the media prior to its unveiling at the show, is an all-new luxury crossover from Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s Acura premium division. The uber-curvy Acura ZDX is to be a rival for stylish but utility-challenged (and low-volume) crossovers such as Infiniti's FX and BMW's X6.
Toyota Motor Corp.'s Scion division also did not pre-uncloak its New York show concept car, believed to be a subcompact that may or may not be taken as a direct replacement for Scion's aging tC coupe.
Photos by Manufacturers
1. 2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG
2. 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee
3. GMC Terrain crossover
4. PUMA urban transporter a cooperation between GM and Segway
5. Ford Transit Connect Family One concept, the new-age spin on the hippie van
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