Queer 4 Cars Celebrates the Automotive Lifestyle.

The New York International Auto Show has brought back the energy to consumer auto shows. While not quite where it was in the mid-teens, it is better than what we saw coming out of the pandemic.  Bright lights highlighting displays of interesting cars, engaged booth babes and dudes. Even with lower manufacturer turnout, the show provides some optimism for the automotive industry moving forward.

The old days of the rare EV is now mainstream, not put on display like the red-headed step child to be chided and ridiculed, now they are right out there with their ICE brethren. Check out our interview with Lucid’s Rob Whitley at the show. While a few like the EV Blazer from Chevrolet hides in the back of the booth, Other brands have their EVs highlighted on the main display turntable.  While 2024 is a mid-design refresh year, which normally means very little, the Korean brands have concept and new models on display, Genesis, in particular. Kia even reveled a brand next generation compact sedan and hatchback model.

The big two (Ford and GM) not three because Stellantis did not have booth space, only their Camp Jeep out front. Ford celebrated America’s original pony car had a nice presentation of its latest Stang, Mustang’s 60^th anniversary is 2024. America’s tried and true, the original pony car had a nice presentation. And of course F150 in all its glory and muscle with Tremor and Raptor were on display.  GM on the other hand was pretty quiet, with its array of aging SUV’s and pickups on the floor, and not much buzz going on in either of its booths. And speaking of GM Booths, the GMC Buick booth was as far away from the Chevrolet booth as possible – both in the back, and one at the extreme South and extreme North of the main hall.

Hyundai has a huge presence taking up what was once German auto space, BMW and Mercedes-Benz’s old booth area. Hyundai has a ride along program where you get to experience their Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 models as a passenger.

Speaking of as a passenger, Camp Jeep, the only presentation that Stellantis has for 2024 at an auto show, is right out front with Jeeps straddling odd wooden structures and climbing up metal mountains with lots of tire slip and grab. Or maybe showing that you can go climb over a ravine at a nice degree of angle. Nicely displayed on the Jeep’s large digital center camera display. Cause often all you see is the sky or the bottom of the incline. Not to be outdone, Ford has a Bronco Track as well hidden off the the side, so do not miss that opportunity to ride along in the all-mighty new Ford Bronco.

Electric indoor drive track is back again at NYIAS as it has been for a number of years. This gives many smaller EV companies a chance to show off their products without having a large display booth, just a tent area near the track, such as Lucid has.

We visited both the Rivian and Lucid NYC Boutiques, located about a mile south of the Javits Center. I will not call them dealerships. Both brands sell direct to consumers which is still a bone of contention with the independent automotive dealers associations, as they are privately owned firms that have dealerships and are contracted to the manufacturers to sell and service specific brands, with large footprint building and parking lots.  These boutique like shops have displays of the cars, merchandise like water bottles, tee shirts and sweat shirts, and in the case of the Rivian showroom has a kids play area. Showing that their brand is family centric and focused on the modern day parent and the kids. A place to entertain the kids while the parents are making that 2^nd largest family purchase decision, what they drive.

Now we also got to experience an electric ride-on bike or should I say a suitcase that you can ride from Honda, the Motocompacto. While this will not be in demonstration mode for the consumer portion of the show, it was a fun, experience. And a $995 product you can buy in  Honda dealers parts department.

Overall the 2024 New York Auto Show is well worth the visit. Yes there are less vehicles to see than in years past, but what you will see and experience is well worth the price of admission.  The New York Auto Show runs until Sunday, April, 7th. The center is on the West Side of Manhattan, easily reachable by public transportation.  Parking in New York City is never easy or cheap, so I would suggest you find a way to get into the city and make your way to the 2024 New York International Auto Show before it closes.