New York International Auto Show

The New York International Auto Show is the 1st and largest in North America.  Over 1,000 vehicles were displayed this year.  Multiple Auto OEM’s from GM to Renault-Nissan acknowledge the industry disruption and expect greater changes over the following five years than the previous twenty.  Industry and regulatory focus continues on EV’s, although the US and Japan have not continued the sales surges of China and the EU in 2015.  The upcoming Tesla 3’s pre-orders and the Chevy Bolt excitement should impact sales, but not before ‘17/’18.

The autonomous buzz has begun to acknowledge a continuum of increasingly assisted driving vs. a more distant driverless future without steering wheels and with many electronics that would now distract drivers.  Cars are now featuring everything from self-parking to a plethora of safety functions.

Over the Air (OTA) is moving beyond its star maker, Tesla into Mercedes and other brands that recognize not only the inherent reductions in risk and costs, but the nearly unseen potential for transformation through recurring revenues.   Ford is beginning to investigate this with Amazon.

The NYIAS this year had cars grabbing attention from the likely affordable, yet cute 4-cylinder Mazda MX-5 RF up to the $2M, 1500hp (yes that number is correct) Koenigsegg Regera.   The Mercedes Benz E43 AMG includes semi-autonomous functionality and 396hp to satisfy the technology cravings and driver experiences.

Overall, there were no major announcements this year.  CES is taking buzz off of the auto shows as many OEM’s show off technology there first.   Still it is an interesting cross section of concept and incredible luxury cars alongside transportation for the masses in the same place.