New York Auto Show: Are We in Neutral or Drive?
By Michelle Krebs March 30, 2010Everyone's certain to be sensitive to the industry "mood" at this week's New York auto show. 
Projections for March's Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate are calling for hefty leaps over February, as well as compared with the same time last year when the auto industry had reached its depths.
However, with March sales figures pumped by oversized incentive spending incited by Toyota Motor Corp. and more large-scale fleet purchases, some analysts suspect March performances may be painting an artificial picture of a rebound that isn't there - or at least isn't sustainable.
So with all this background - not to mention gasoline prices steadily inching upward - automakers and industry watchers will be looking at the New York show for even the subtlest of signals, much the same way the finance industry hangs on every word of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.
Two automakers are certain to be presenting upbeat messages in New York: Hyundai Motor America and Ford Motor Co. seemingly aren't too worried about whether a rebound is or isn't happening - it is for these two, both surging in terms of sales and market share.
Crucial New Models For Two Surging Makers
Hyundai will be filling in a gaping hole in its model range by unveiling at the New York auto 
show a hybrid version of the all-new 2011 Hyundai Sonata. Hyundai's moving metal like mad, the Sonata's red-hot and it seems almost assured the brand's first hybrid in the U.S. market (will the Sonata Blue Drive moniker of the thinly disguised New York show car remain?) will stoke the brand's raging furnace even more, particularly if gasoline prices continue an upward trajectory into the summer.
Hyundai also will show a Sonata Turbo, hedging its bet with the new Sonata when it was decided to launch the car only with a 198-horsepower, direct-injected 2.4-liter 4-cylinder. The turbocharged 2.-liter 4-cylinder for the Sonata will bring the car closer to horsepower parity with the optional V6s offered by almost all of the segment's standard players.
And Kia Motors America, Hyundai's sister brand, is unveiling the 2011 Optima sedan, a 4-door that, if the sheetmetal impression lives up to the luscious impression of the photos, is going to give Honda and Toyota stylists something to worry about. Based on the same structure as Hyundai's Sonata - and likely to include essentially the same powertrain choices - Kia's all-new Optima may be more stylistically impressive than its platform-mate.
Underscoring the ongoing transformation of the market's formerly SUV-laden landscape, there will be a few more station wagons on the market after the New York show. Honda Motor Co. Ltd's Acura upscale division shows the TSX Sport Wagon, and the probability of complete carryover of powertrains from the existing TSX sedan means this is one of the few wagons on the market to offer a manual transmission.
General Motors Co. unwraps a wagon variant of the smoldering Cadillac CTS-V sport sedan, taking its niche-within-a-niche cues from the German automakers that seem to be forever creating more arcanely targeted variants of mainstream models.
The 2011 CTS-V Sport Wagon uses the same 556-horsepower supercharged 6.2-liter V8 as the CTS-V, and also will offer the availability of a manual transmission when it goes on sale late this year.
Fuel Savers
At the New York auto show, Toyota Motor Corp. offers the North American debut of the Lexus CT 200h, a hybrid hatchback and Lexus' first hatchback of any kind.
The car, unveiled in Europe earlier this year, uses Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive system combined with a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder that, at least on paper, positions it below the 2.4-liter engined Lexus HS 250h sedan.
Volkswagen of America antes up at the New York show with a hybrid variant of the all-new 2011 Touareg crossover, a model already vastly slimmed down and optimized for more of an on-road mission. For some inexplicable reason, VW planners decided the car needed the supercharged 3-liter V6 from its Audi unit to combine with the electric motor integral with the 8-speed automatic transmission for a total output of 380 horsepower - and a dead-certain stratospheric pricetag, an emerging hallmark of German-originated hybrids.
GM is expected to show an economy-optimized variant of the coming 2011 Chevrolet Cruze at the New York Show.
BMW North America Inc. is offering the first North American look at the all-new 5-Series sedan, Porsche has its all-new, 2011 Cayenne Crossover (like its Touareg cousin, drastically slimmed down) and Subaru of America Inc. will use the New York auto show to unveil the 2011 versions of its warty-but-lovable Impreza WRX. - Bill Visnic, Senior Editor
Photos by manufacturers
1 - 2011 Hyundai Sonata hybrid teaser photo
2 - 2011 Kia Optima
3 - 2011 Volkswagen Tourareg
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