Welcome to New York City and the annual auto show held in Hell’s Kitchen. While there were some beautifully fast cars like the Audi TT RS along with sexy concepts — notably the Genesis Mint EV — the thrust remained, as it has at the past few auto shows, the all-conquering crossover and its brutish SUV sibling that ruled the floor space.
It is not a particularly well-kept secret that crossovers and SUVs are what makes the auto business go round at this moment in time — Ford and GM are basically getting out of the car business while Mercedes-Benz proclaimed 2020 the Year of the SUV and proceeded to launch more crossovers than a couple of manufacturers combined.
Here, in no particular order, are four of the key introductions: Lincoln finally got around to replacing the MKC with the Corsair, based on the all-new Escape, and also brings its new naming strategy more into line; Subaru presented its take on a crossover alternative, the extremely popular Outback; Hyundai added yet another small crossover to its growing arsenal, this one named Venue and slated to be Hyundai’s most affordable crossover; and Toyota launched a redesigned eight-seat Highlander with an average fuel economy of 6.9 L/100 km in hybrid trim – that’s better than many compact cars!