New York Hosts North American and World Debuts
The New York International Auto Show is the last domestic show for new model introductions until November, when the spotlight will once again be trained on Los Angeles. New York will have its usual mix of foreign and domestic, cars and trucks, modest and luxury in a region of the country no manufacturer dares miss. The Northeast market is among the strongest for brands like Mercedes and Volvo, and visitors are sure to see plenty from Porsche — a manufacturer that stayed out of February's Chicago Auto Show altogether.
The New York show, which is open to the public March 21-30, will be Americans' first chance to see a number of models introduced overseas — mainly at the Geneva Motor Show — that will be sold here as well. Among them are the redesigned, angrier-looking 2009 Infiniti FX that will go on sale in June, as well as Audi's small, redesigned A4 Avant wagon. Mini will show the first John Cooper Works performance version of the Cooper since its 2007 redesign. We'll also get our first look at the next-generation 2009 Honda Fit, which will go on sale in the U.S. by the end of this year.
Not much from Geneva is all-new, but a compelling exception is the 2009 Volvo XC60, a small SUV that will take on the likes of Infiniti's smaller EX35 and Acura's RDX early in 2009. Acura will show the TSX; not only is the small sport sedan a redesign, but it will eventually host Acura's first D-TECH clean-diesel engine.
The Saab 9-X BioHybrid, also rolled out in Geneva, is worth checking out for anyone who wants an idea of what the Swedish manufacturer's small cars will look like in the future. New concepts will include a veritable automotive bento box from Japanese companies, including the Suzuki Kizashi 1, Kizashi 2 and Kizashi 3 — the last of which will be a world debut. The Scion Hako also has never been seen before.
As for global introductions, a combination of intel, rumor and conjecture has us expecting a 2009 Nissan Maxima, catching that model up with the 2007 redesign of the Altima on which it's based. We're also anticipating a 2009 Dodge Challenger announcement (which means a trim level lower than SRT8, the sole version available for 2008) and, from Pontiac, a small car/pickup truck not unlike an old Chevy El Camino. It's based on a "ute" from GM's Australian Holden subsidiary, which is the source of Pontiac's retired GTO and soon-for-sale G8 sedan.
