Money talks in New York City and luxury automakers are listening with sub-$200k sports car and a Ford Focus with drift mode
The 2015 New York International Auto Show featured around 60 new vehicle introductions and premiers. But this year, a particular emphasis was on premium-level sedans with seemingly every manufacturer showing either a concept or forthcoming production model.
The announcement in late 2014 of Cadillac relocating their management and marketing staff to an office in SoHo is one sign that NYC might become a new focal point for the luxury car market. Lexus is still on track to open a branch of their Intersect hybrid showroom near the Highline. And Lincoln is taking over a penthouse near Union Square for some upcoming news about their Black Label ownership program. Manhattan’s aura of wealth and prestige is an obvious complimentary backdrop to show off top of the line avenue cruisers.
To make some sense of the variety of new introductions, we’ve reduced the best down to three categories that had the strongest showings. If you aren’t much of a serious car news follower or couldn’t make it to the show, this list offers the highlights in easy to remember acronym-free categories.
Premium
Large cars with four doors saturated the show, stealing the spotlight from the still very popular crossover and CUV segments. Many automakers haven’t paid much attention to flagship sedans in the recent past instead focusing on big SUVs.
Some of the renewed interest in these cars is coming from China where automakers are hoping for robust sales.
Cadillac CT6
Kicking off Cadillac’s $12-billion investment to refine their product offer is a new flagship model with a new name designation. The current all-letter names (XTS, CTS, ATS) will be phased out and replaced with letter/number combinations. The CT6 is the top of the line and rides on a new lighter weight aluminum structure which Cadillac says results in “bank vault” interior quietness.
The exterior design is clean and quite refined compared to the harsher angles of past models. Even in white paint, which typically hides shape, the CT6 retains good shape read. The only nagging detail is the teary-eyed vertical headlights which lack some shape elegance.
Tech innovations in CT6 include a 360-degree video camera which can record front and rear views while driving, and a full 360-panorama when parked. The system aids in reducing blind spots while driving by displaying video within the interior rear view mirror and dashboard display.
Jaguar XF
The new second generation XF is Jaguar’s mid-sized sedan that competes with BMW’s 5-series. With a more performance focus, the XF makes extensive use of aluminum in the chassis and body to reduce weight. You can see the design influence of the Jaguar F-Type sports car particularly in the front end of the XF.
A new infotainment option can be ordered called InControl Touch Pro. it features a 10.2-inch touch screen powered by a quad-core processor and storage from an SSD drive. Jaguar says the system can access data in a fraction of the time of a conventional hard drive. The home screen is customizable with wallpapers and shortcut widgets. The navigation system comes with a few options including Commute Mode which learns daily drives and quickly recommends alternate routes based on traffic data.
Lincoln Continental Concept
Lincoln has been without a flagship sedan for a while and it has eyes on China as a place to grow the brand. The Continental Concept was created with the theme of ‘Quiet Luxury,’ Lincoln’s new brand narrative. The car previews a possible return of the Continental model as well as an aesthetic direction for the rest of the line.
The long, low proportion of the Continental Concept is, as Lincoln says, a nod and wink to classic Lincolns without wallowing in the past. The concept raised some eyebrows from similarities in the front end to Jaguar cars and the rear to upcoming Audi models.
Bentley designers also thought it looked a bit too close to their Flying Spur model overall.
Practical
On the opposite end of the spectrum from all the high-dollar premium cars were updated models both entry-level and affordable. Each of these shows a significant upgrade in terms of design and value.
Chevy Spark
Chevy says the current Spark is a hit among young, first-time car buyers. It is also one of GM’s most globally available, being sold in 40 markets around the world. The new Spark minicar has a sleeker and more efficient design owing in part to a longer and lower overall size.
While the look is more sophisticated, Michael Simcoe, GM International vice president of Design comments on the importance of keeping a young spirit. “It retains a youthful flair, but reflects the maturation of the global minicar market and customers’ desires for richly styled and highly contented choices.”
Smart fortwo
Having already launched in Europe, the new Smart fortwo will go on sale in the U.S. in autumn 2015. The outgoing model’s issues like less-than-smooth transmission have been fixed in the new version. The exterior retains the unique silhouette shape identifiable with Smart.
The overall size of the car increased but it still has the tightest turning circle of any car on the market.
The interior is really the coolest part. One of the best features is the integrated adjustable smartphone cradle on the dashboard. Provides good visibility of the screen for navigation and is within easy reach of the steering wheel to answer a call.
Nissan Maxima
The Maxima is Nissan’s volume seller sedan which isn’t known for ever having a very distinctive look. The four-door sedan category isn’t usually the most adventurous in design terms but the new Maxima offers something different. The front end offers a refined version of Nissan’s chrome accented grille that sweeps back into the headlights. The shapes are aggressive without being too crazy.
The signature styling touch is the car’s roof that seems to float above the back end. A black reveal strip on the back pillar creates the effect. It works well on lighter paint colors but gets lost when the rest of the exterior is all black.
Indulgent
Every auto show has at least a car or two worthy of a spot in a fantasy garage. These are the ones that inspire dreams and they’re not always out of reach.
Ford Focus RS
The term ‘hot hatch’ is still likely most associated with the VW Golf GTI but the Ford Focus has a performance persona as well. The U.S. has only gotten the mildly tuned ST version the past couple years and fans have been begging for the more extreme European RS model. Ford got the message and the RS will go on sale in North America in spring 2016.
What makes this car special? It is small, light and fast. It comes with all-wheel drive to improve handling and a bunch of technology grafted from race cars. For instance, there’s an industry first ‘drift mode’ which enables drivers to achieve controlled slides around corners at racetracks and probably lots of empty parking lots.
Ford says the 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbocharged engine will make at least 315 hp. It comes standard with launch control and enough space in the back for weekly grocery runs.
Subaru STi Performance Concept
Subaru Tecnica International (STI) is the performance division of Subaru. Historically they’ve been behind making specialty parts and contributing to Subaru’s racing activities. The division is expanding and will offer more products and STI tuned versions of Subaru cars in the U.S.
The STI Performance Concept, based on the BRZ sports car, is one of their ideas. It has a reworked chassis, engine, exterior and interior that looks perfect for track laps or twisty roads.
McLaren 570S
The new ‘entry level’ McLaren 570S looks twice as expensive as it actually costs. The sub $200k sports car is meant to be more road friendly and work as a daily driver.
It has loads of super car style and is an absolute attention magnet covered in orange paint. This cheap McLaren is no slouch with 562hp turbo V8 engine mounted in a car made pretty much out of carbon fiber.
New York International Auto Show
Photos: Dave Pinter
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