The 2011 New York International Auto Show press days begin next week, and that means its time for a preview as to what dealers, suppliers, and others might expect from the show.
The bad news is that some product info is embargoed, and other pieces of information are just educated guesses at this point. But there's enough out there to get a sense of the industry's direction heading into New York. The New York show is the last major show until Los Angeles in the fall, so what's shown at the Jacob Javits Center gives a strong hit at what the automakers are thinking.
The focus this year is on mainstream products. There appears to be little in the way of concepts, and it's possible--even likely--that the concepts that are shown are simply previews of upcoming products.
Not all the production stuff is mainstream, however. Based on rumors traveling around the automotive journalism realm, the mix appears to be a balance between mainstream mid-size sedans and performance cars/performance versions of mainstreams cars.
What this means to the market is that the sense of optimism that has been slowly creeping into the industry is continuing to grow, despite rising gas prices and the economic turmoil from the disaster in Japan.
For dealers, suppliers, and others who make a living from the industry, this means that automotive industry is starting to come out of the doldrums.
What's notable is what isn't being shown. Hybrids and alternative-vehicles appear to be in short supply in New York, with automakers likely holding off on those kinds of cars until the L.A. show. The Detroit show still holds the most important debuts, and this year, Chicago seemed to be the performance-car show.
So that means New York is focused on the follow-ups to what was shown in Detroit and Chicago.
Which is fine. With plenty of new product being planned for New York, the industry appears to be in good shape.