Best of The New York Auto Show

Hello, and welcome to a very special edition of The Gas, if things sound a little different

than normal.

That's because we are on location at the New York International Auto Show.

And when I say we, I mean myself, and Alex Nunez because this is the Gary and Alex show.

How's it going, Alex?

It's going well, man.

How are you?

This is a big show for New York.

It's been a while since we've had half a dozen new cars revealed.

It feels like it's been forever since we've had this many new cars at the New York Auto

Show.

So it's actually a very eventful show, not just for media, but like people that come

to the show this week, they're going to see some actual new stuff.

It's fun, and a lot of the cars are actually going to be made in the United States, which

is why American Cars and Racing likes this show a lot, and we do have to kick things

off with this bad boy right here, which is the show stopper.

It's the Hyundai Boulder concept.

Last year, they showed off the Hyundai Crater concept, which is a cool off-roader.

This is actually, even though it's an SUV, it's a preview of their upcoming body on

frame truck that they're going to be building in the United States by 2030.

They haven't told us exactly when, but it's going to be a midsize pickup.

And then I guess they're going to do an SUV that looks like this crater.

I certainly hope so because it looks great.

And, you know, a lot of the chatter as I was on the train coming in this morning was

how it looks like, you know, it could be a Bronco competitor.

Yeah, that's certainly what this is.

I mean, it's very obvious what what the bogey was in terms of the inspiration

and benchmarking and everything else is.

So but if this is the direction, Hyundai is going to go with body on frame

and sort of off-road capable vehicles, this is very exciting, very boxy,

definitely Bronco sized, Wrangler sized.

The concept has 37 inch off-road tires, solid rear axle.

Hyundai is not saying what kind of powertrain it has yet.

Not going to be electric.

I think we're pretty sure about that much.

But maybe a hybrid.

We'll see about that.

They're doing a lot of hybrids these days and they're making a big point.

The Nali was this designed for the United States, but it's going to be made in the

United States and built with steel manufactured by Hyundai Steel here in the United States.

So they are all in the US manufacturer.

As I listen, this is what everything has been moving towards over the last year and a half or

so of the new administration has been a big push to sort of reindustrialize.

Here in the US, Hyundai is taking it all very seriously.

And as a result, it looks like we have some really quality stuff in the pipeline

that is going to be heavily US sourced for this market.

They're talking about building 80 percent of their cars in the United States

that are sold here by 2030.

They've got more than 30 Hyundai models on the way.

And they just told us today more than 20 Genesis models on the way.

Now, I'm guessing they're counting trims and whatnot.

I mean, what they're doing is they're sort of filling in where other automakers kind of aren't.

You know, Hyundai still has, you know, very prominently a sedan in Elantra

that is not going anywhere anytime soon, even though we're seeing the Sonata go away

after this generation.

And Genesis also, you know, Genesis started with two sedans into a total SUV market.

And now you go walk over by the Genesis stand.

It is a full spread SUVs, interesting sedans.

They have the station wagon G90 concept, which is fantastic.

But again, like very serious approach to building out

lineups that have broad appeal to the sort of customer set that each brand talks to.

And as far as the boulder is concerned, it will be interesting to see how the market likes this.

Because, you know, we've got the Bronco and the Wrangler.

When the Bronco came back, it definitely stole Wrangler sales.

But then off to the side, you've got the Toyota 4Runner and the Toyota Land Cruiser,

which are almost like their own thing, but they do compete with the Bronco and the Wrangler,

even though the tops don't come off, at least on this concept.

The top doesn't come off this, but that could change by the time they build it.

And again, they are going to plan on launching the pickup truck version of this first,

which if it looks anything like this, it will definitely stand out.

If this is a hint at what the sort of rugged styling language for this new platform is going to be,

they're going to have busy dealerships.

Now, as far as the American brands at the show, a couple of launches.

We've got the Ford Expedition 30-Year Anniversary, 30th Anniversary Edition.

Do you think there's a lot of Expedition owners that are celebrating the 30...

Do you think there's any Expedition owners who have owned Expeditions for 30 years?

There probably are, because, you know, these big SUVs,

whether you're talking about an Expedition or like on the GM side suburban,

you know, people sort of latch onto nameplates and hang on, especially with the U.S. ones.

What I'll say about the 30th Anniversary Expedition is that is a great color,

and Ford should, like, be spraying that color on pretty much everything.

It's the blue ember that launched with the Mustang Dark Horse.

Now they've decided to put it on their biggest SUV.

Beyond that, though, it's got 30 years badging,

white interior with the 30 years embossed into the center armrest.

One disappointment for me on this model, which I think is going to end up pricing out at about

$80,000 all in, is that it's got the standard Expedition engine,

Ford's your horsepower, and you can't spec it with the 440 high output.

I mean, I feel like if you're going to put Mustang paint on the truck,

you should let me get the more powerful end.

I feel like the customer for that car is not going to sweat that nearly as much.

Dodge also has a Anniversary Edition SUV here.

It's the Durango America 250.

It's not the Durango's anniversary.

It's America's anniversary.

Stellanus, all the brands are coming out with these celebratory models.

They're actually official partner with the America 250 Foundation,

although other automakers are doing the same sort of thing.

Stars and stripes, but they're black on the hood.

You get a white version of it.

It's got American flags on the fenders, again, black.

You're really going to get inside before you get the red, white, and blue.

You've got the blue inserts in the seats and red, white, and blue stitching.

I still feel like they could take these farther.

In fact, it's annoying me because in another part of the show,

they've got a couple of trucks that they built when they announced their partnership

with America 250, then Washington, D.C.

and they are emblazoned in red, white, and blue decals and graphics and flags.

And I feel like I should have the opportunity to buy something like that

instead of this black-tinted American stock.

Well, the other ones that are on display are much closer in spirit to what we saw in 1976

when we had Bicentennial versions of everything.

This, everybody's playing it very safe with just these sort of black on black

or like glossy black on a matte black thing,

because I feel like they're afraid people don't want to take that extra step.

But I feel like there is so little color in new cars,

especially when you consider that dealers are always ordering the most boring colors

because they move them fast enough.

It would be really fun to see more enthusiastic embrace of the sort of red, white, and blue,

old-school style, like tape-stripe packages.

But I guess, whatever, we're talking to the wall, that's not happening.

The cars are here, I'm sure they'll find an audience.

And I mean, I was distracted by the Hellcat Durango that was next to the Bicentennial one.

And they do those jail breaks where you can totally customize them,

and they're available in a variety of colors.

So I wish they pulled it out for the American version.

I mean, Stellantis has a cornucopia of great colors always,

especially with the performance vehicles.

So I just keep looking back that way at the Stellantis display right off-camera.

Lo with the Durango.

Chrysler rolled out the new Pacifica for 2027, the Pacifica.

First went on sale in 2018.

This is actually its second mid-cycle refresh.

Don't see that too often in the car world.

Basically, what they've done this time is they made the front end look more like a Kia

than a Chrysler with a new fascia and grille and lighting arrangement.

Very jagged, very linear, light bar.

It's a con looking, but like we said on, I think it was the last episode,

this is the LX platform of family vehicles.

They are, this Pacifica generation is going to hang around until they literally

buy some sort of regulation canceling anymore.

I'm curious to see if this is what the other new Chryslers look like,

or if this is kind of a one-off style that they had been working on for a while.

And now it's like they're stuck with it.

Oh, now we got to reboot the bearing completely.

Well, I guess that remains to be seen.

I feel like there's so much opportunity with Chrysler.

I mean, there is no lineup, you know, obviously.

And with the platform, the platforms they have available to them,

with Dodge's SUVs and obviously the new charger, which is great.

I mean, you would love to see a 300 or Imperial or something of that sort of

stature on that new charger platform.

It's huge, it's comfortable, and it really is actually well suited to something

that's probably a little more formal than the Dodge.

I mean, the Dodge itself feels like such a premium product.

I mean, you could easily convince me that's worth $100,000 if you had the right power

train and all that.

The interior is fantastic.

The body work, one thing about Dodge, you know, the bodies look great,

and then the paint quality always seems so spectacular.

I'm looking at it right now from where we're standing, and those things are just gorgeous.

Well, they always do really well, not just with paint, but it's all the little details.

You mentioned the interior, like the textures and everything.

Whatever you're paying, you're getting what you pay for, and it's inside and outside.

You know, they're really good at doing different wheels and things like that that add just enough

sort of visual panache that you feel like absolutely nothing is being mailed in here.

A couple other American-made cars that are launching here, but not from American brands.

Subaru, which is one of the other companies that likes to unveil things here in New York,

brought two new models.

One's sort of a mix and match.

It's the first Forester Wilderness Hybrid, combined with a hybrid power train with that

off-roady wilderness spec.

I'm a fan of both of those things, and in the regular Foresters, the Hybrid gets 35 miles per

gallon with an all-wheel drive system.

We tested that a couple of months ago, and it was great.

And of course, the wildernesses are just a riot off-road with that 9.3 inches of ground clearance

and the crazy bodywork and those all-terrain tires.

I mean, it's pretty much a no-brainer.

That one's a winner, and they'll be building that in Indiana.

Absolutely.

And, you know, we were joking earlier when we were over at the Subaru stand.

The wildernesses are like the perfect New York car, even though just because

potholes and getting your doors dinged and everything, these things have more cladding

than every Pontiac ever built in the 80s and 90s.

And it's all sort of very functional.

So I think it looks great, the new SUV, the Highlander-derived getaway.

Also very interesting, was getting a bunch of attention just now.

Subaru always comes correct at the New York Auto Show.

They always have a debut.

And it's just more good stuff.

Yeah, the getaway is interesting.

It's the fourth electric vehicle that Subaru is launching in partnership with Toyota.

Basically, it's not a perfect port of the new Toyota Highlander,

which is only going to be available as an electric vehicle this year.

Subaru at least puts a unique grille on it and the powertrain tune is unique.

420 horsepower, 0-60 in less than five seconds for a three-row family electric vehicle.

And they're saying more than 300 miles of range.

It's interesting.

A couple of years ago, everybody was whining that Toyota wasn't moving fast enough

into the electric vehicle segment.

Of course, Subaru was nowhere in it.

Now these two brands are leading the way as everybody else is moving away from it.

And you wonder, is it inertia or have they played the long game and it's actually going to work out?

I feel like Toyota only plays the long game.

They waited.

They already dominated battery electric in general with the hybrid system.

I mean, pretty much everything that Toyota sells, almost everything, is a hybrid.

And if there was a brand that I would trust to sort of...

If they're late to the game, they're coming late very well prepared.

And so it's interesting.

I think it's interesting to watch.

It is a little jarring, like you said, because they took a lot of flack

during the sort of early EV conversations because they weren't there.

It's very interesting to see them now coming full bore with like the

general interest in EVs like sort of stepping back.

But I feel like they have all the bases covered.

Another brand that brought two new models to the show.

They're US reveals, although we've seen them before because they're both sold

in other countries.

Kia with the electric EV3 and the new Kia Seltos, all new Kia Seltos.

Subcompact SUV.

They made it a little bit bigger this time because every time vehicles get redesigned these days,

they have to grow a little bit, but it is still smaller than the Sportage.

They've got the X-Line version now, 8.1 inches ground clearance.

Not an off-roader, but you can get it with all-wheel drive.

Interesting thing about this, they have three powertrain options.

147 horsepower four-cylinder, 190 horsepower, turbocharged four-cylinder,

and then a hybrid version of the Seltos.

They haven't given the specs on that one yet, but I mean that,

if that's getting 40 miles per gallon in this size segment with the styling this thing has,

which basically looks like a mini version of the Telluride or the Kia EV9,

this thing is going to be a slam dunk.

I agree. It's the right, you know, it's this size is very popular obviously that compact,

that sort of generic compact crossover SUV is right there, and they've nailed the styling again,

but Kia and Hyundai, the Korean brands are so good at styling in general right now.

I mean, if anything, I mean my one sort of throwaway observation is that

this upsized Seltos is really close to Sportage, and Sportage is really close to Sereno,

and Sereno is not that far off from Telluride.

I mean, it's kind of this like sort of nesting doll thing.

They have a lot to offer, but I feel like there's a lot of overlap there too.

Then you got the EV3. I'm kind of surprised that they're bringing this.

I mean, I know much like Toyota, Kia, and Hyundai have a lot of electric vehicles,

they're building them in the United States. This one is imported from South Korea,

but they do seem committed to the electric market, but you know, this is entry level,

maybe going to be priced around $35,000 to haven't said for sure yet.

There's going to be entry level mile 220 miles of range. That's not a lot.

And then another version with 320 miles of range competitive segment.

You know, it's going to go right up against the Chevrolet Bolt, the Chevrolet Equinox.

The funny thing about this is, even though they have the EV6 and the EV9,

which the EV3 looks like a mini EV9, they have been planning on bringing the EV4,

which is compact sedan and hatchback. They've suspended that program and decided to bring

the EV3 instead. What do you think the chances of this thing being a hit are?

Very hard to sort of guess here. We talk about it almost every week, right?

What's the market for EVs? If it's priced right and people like it,

the audience is there. I mean, Hyundai and Kia have a lot of EVs and they've sort of proven

their, their metal here. I really think it just comes down to, you know, what's the,

you know, the actual real person shopper that walks into a dealership.

Are they going to look at that and say, Oh, well, it's great. Or are they just going to

look at the new cell, doesn't go. Well, I don't have to worry about anything else.

And I can jump in this for pretty much same price. 220 miles of range seems like a tough

sell to me. 320, that might work. I feel like the two, I feel like that low range model is

something that you will almost not see on dealer lots. Dealers are not going to buy something with

what was considered decent range, you know, six, eight years ago. If I had to guess, I would say

anyone that you see on dealer lot is going to have the bigger battery because I don't think that

under 300 miles is a, is a valid selling point anymore.

One more US built model that's been updated and revealed here is the new Volkswagen Atlas.

And when I see new, I mean an evolution of the last Atlas, they've significantly updated it,

but it does still use a new version of the platform, which interestingly enough, originally

went on sale, I think in 2018, which is right around when the Pacific went on sale, but this

does get a new body. It's got new front end with the light bars and no grille, no upper grille,

kind of looks like an electric vehicle. And then the interior has got a full redesign

with a big giant tablet and surprisingly no buttons and knobs, which had been a VW thing for

a couple of years now, although they've admitted that people don't really like that. And apparently

you're planning on bringing buttons and knobs back, but not in time for this one. Two liter

four cylinder engine, 282 horsepower. You know, this is a big giant roomy crossover SUV. They

designed it originally specifically for the United States. I'm not even sure if they sell

anywhere else. Yeah, I don't believe, I don't believe that it really does. And it's in the most

competitive of all the segments that that midsize category, I mean, pilot, telluride, palisade,

that is a tough space. And you have to really sort of earn your keep there. So I'm very curious

to see how it does. I think it looks, I think it looks great. I don't like the no buttons, you

know, interior thing, as we all know, it takes years to, you know, to sort of properly develop

and implement these changes that like even Volkswagen was talking about. So I guess we'll

all three key US market form factors and size classes spoken for. And all three of them,

pretty impressive, you know, in terms of look and materials and all that stuff.

And this one is a big seller. I was looking at the numbers the other day. It is one of their

top so not number one, but it's there. Got that and the ticker one and the jet actually surprisingly

sells pretty well. I think although I would expect most of those probably go to rental agencies.

Probably. It's funny. I was on Volkswagen website the other day just poking around because I was

curious, you know, like sort of updating my knowledge of what they had. And, you know,

Jetta has a place because that's your gateway vehicle into the Volkswagen brand. I mean, they

have they have an entry level vehicle in Jetta that also has a cool version in GLI that you can,

you know, get what is a by all accounts, a, you know, a good size, very useful,

especially if you look at the GLI, fun to drive car that is not insanely expensive. Whereas the,

as we know, the both golfs are high end, high performance models. So that takes, you know,

that's it. I mean, Jetta is Jetta is the is the gateway drug. Volkswagen said they'll have a hybrid

version of this at the mid cycle refresh. So we're probably three or four years away from that,

at which point this Atlas platform is going to be absolutely ancient. But I mean, I really,

as I think Chrysler has proved and Dodge and all those brands have proven over and over again.

It really doesn't matter if the car is good. Why? Why do we need to throw the baby out with the

bathwater? Just update it. There's plenty of cars that are out there now that even if they're

theoretically all new, they're evolved versions of core architecture. So if you can do the right

thing in terms of styling and features and all that stuff, you can stretch the life of these

platforms. I mean, it doesn't make them bad to drive just because the underlying architecture

is old. There's a, you can pretty much change everything else around it and have what is

effectively a brand new car that incorporates all the things that are designed to appeal,

especially for for Atlas to like that family car buyer. Speaking of old platforms, I almost

forgot there's also another US made vehicle here. It's the new Infinity QX 65, which is built in

Tennessee and is basically one of these coupe SUV versions of the QX 60, which is a big three row

SUV like the Atlas. Now they've got this two row, a lot of people bust on infinity. Their lineup is

definitely getting a little stale, but I kind of like the Infinity vibe. I think the interiors

are fantastic. Yep. Very good interiors. Exterior styling has always, has always been good.

This new, this new car is great looking. I know that it's not like an FX, but it does project some

of that infinity FX energy, which if you're infinity and you're having to work with, you know,

your existing, you know, platforms, you know, that are shared with Nissan and all that stuff,

this is the way to do it. Good styling, cool colors, like you said, nice interior stuff that

photographs well, it's going to look good. People are happy to be seen it. And speaking

of photographs well, the red paint has gold coated glass flakes in it. Apparently they've used actual

gold on this paint and it really does look amazing on, I'm not sure if the one they've got on the

floor is 55,000. That's where the price point starts, but even in this price range, that is some

spectacular paint. Yeah. And those are the little small details, I think that actually help these

these brands that infinity has to, is on a bit of a sort of comeback direction right now, right?

So this is a really important car, but it's again, those little things like that, that

looks expensive, makes people feel better about it. You're selling, you're trying to sell

a luxury vehicle, you know, in a luxury brand, you have, it's those little things that you have

to do to make it work. All right, we're going to pick a winner for the show. I think it's got to

be hands down this thing, right? Yeah, this thing, but also I wouldn't, before we walked over here,

I was looking at that Corvette Grant Sport in person for the very first time. That's like,

if this is the winner winner, like you want to, you want to do the sort of car of the year type

thing. I guess this is, this is the truck of the show, but the car of the show is that Corvette

Grant Sport. Yeah, I guess it is technically a debut here. This is probably the first time in

public that it's been seen, even though they revealed it a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, it's

absolutely a debut. It looks great. You know, that traditional grand sport, you know, color way that

it's got the, you know, in the blue with the white stripe and the red hash marks. It's awesome.

New York Auto Show. Who knew? Who expected this? It's been so many years since we had

a decent show. I mean, a decent car show in general. I can't even remember the last one that I was

like, wow, there's actually stuff to see and talk about as far as new product on this media day

that we come to. The normal customers, they come and check it out. The normal customers are going

to come and they're going to slam the doors on everything. And there should be a whole lot more

cars on the floor than you see here during the media day. But yeah, I agree. Very eventful New

York Auto Show still feels like the media day was over by lunchtime. But hey, they packed a lot in a

small package and now you and I can go get burgers. Well, that's it for the New York Auto

Show season. LA Auto Show in the fall, Detroit, Chicago, which used to be a thing, New York,

and we're wrapped up again until Los Angeles in the fall. You think they can kick things up and

have as much excitement going on as this one? I feel like the automakers are starting to remember

that there is value in debuting new things and using the shows because yeah, it's not inexpensive

to put this on. But it pays off in terms of the amount of attention you're able to get,

not just from the media day, but you know, this is going to be a mob scene all week next week

with the public coming in. And I give Hyundai and Kia credit because they've stuck by this show

and they've been coming in super as well. Every year, even in these slow years, they've been

taking advantage of it. They've been the big fish in the empty pond. Yeah, absolutely. I mean,

you can you can be the story if you have stories to tell and they always make sure they have

stories to tell. Well, hopefully we'll have stories to tell next week. We won't be at the

auto show, but definitely coming back for another gas show. So Alex, good to see you in person.

We're always doing this remotely and digitally, but this was a lot of fun.

The gas is a production of ACAR Media and American Cars and Reasing.com.

Best of The New York Auto Show

About this episode

Hyundai Boulder

Hyundai Crater concept

body on frame

Jeep Wrangler

powertrain

hybrid

Hyundai Elantra

Hyundai Sonata

Hyundai Genesis

Ford Bronco

Toyota 4Runner

nameplates

Bicentennial versions of everything

black on black

fascia and grille

light bar

Subaru

Kia

EVs

range

buttons and knobs

Honda Pilot

Kia Telluride

Hyundai Palisade

gateway vehicle

Volkswagen GLI

Infinity

car of the year type thing

debut

media day

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