April 10: New York Auto Show comments

The New York Show as always had some interesting intros. I'll show three that caught my eye and give my unbiased (?) comments on each. First off, grandfathers all over North America were very interested in the debut of Toyota's newest Avalon........

This 2013 has a real mixed bag of design elements........roof from the Audi A6, back end from the Hyundai Sonata and the dual front grille from some designer's nightmare. The last Avalon probably sold so few that Toyota execs knew the names of those who bought them, so obviously in designing this one, they were trying to appeal to someone other than buyers looking for a near death experience. Speaking of which, why not make an Avalon hearse, so that the buyer can ride comfortably to the end? By the way, in all my years in the car business, I've never sold an Avalon.

2013 Altima

The next intro is a much more important one for its company. The new Altima has to sell a ton of product and once again establish Nissan firmly in the family midsize market. As such this is an evolved design of the ones that have been around for the last 10 years. Good looking, but check out that front end  -  compare it to the 2013 Lexus GS on the right. Someone sneak into a competitor's design studios?

Taxi drivers and cops love their Impalas, so take a look at what they might soon be driving......

Not bad, eh? Of course it will look different with black wheels, cheap hubcaps and a light on top. Seriously though, the Impala has been a sales success for Chevrolet since its intro in 2000 and has sold in big numbers to "normal" consumers. Since Chev now has the Caprice (a dedicated police cruiser), we might not see blue and red lights atop this new Impala.

Acura lost touch with its high luxury market when they dropped the successful Legend name, replacing it with the RL designation several years ago. The sales just never came back. Well, here is their latest effort to win the hearts and souls of the Benz E class and BMW 5 series buyers.........

Oops, I inserted a Hyundai Genesis pic or is it an Infiniti G37? No, this is the right picture, but it is just so similar to other cars on the market that I'm thoroughly underwhelmed. Not sure how Acura plans to get those lost or new customers back into their showrooms with this new RL. I've been surprised before, but I don't think I will be this time. Very good car actually, just unfortunate about the redesign.

Obviously there were other important intros, like the new Viper, but also obviously there will be other blogs.

Until next time.......