New York Show: Large and Small

With auto show season in full swing, the annual New York show provides a good balance between two of the major global shows in Geneva and Beijing/Shanghai. Last week I attended the first media day and overall, the mood seemed cautiously optimistic, boosted by many new product intros.

For the Alliance, Nissan and Infiniti were back at the show with two new models for the North American market. For Infiniti, it was the global launch of the second generation QX full-size SUV. An all-new platform shared with the recently introduced Nissan Patrol, the QX has 25% more power from its 5.6L V8 but delivers 10% better fuel economy and all for the same price ($56,700) as the previous model.

On the Nissan side comes the all-new Juke. Based off the widely used Alliance B-Platform, Juke is Nissan’s third crossover and third b-segment car for the North American market. The Juke uses the widest track yet of any Alliance B-Platform vehicle and demonstrates how you can use such a common platform, yet still derive many unique vehicles from it.

Although the New York show attracts media from around the world, it is also considered one of the prime ‘selling shows’. With US car buyers starting to return to the market, this show comes at the right time to demonstrate that the industry is still creating desirable and relevant products.