Auto Show Blues - 2026 Edition

I haven't made a final decision, but I might not go to the New York auto show in a couple of weeks.

It should be easy for me to firmly decide not to go.  After all, Chevrolet and Ford have only one non-SUV passenger vehicle each - the Corvette and the Mustang, respectively.  Lincoln has nothing but SUVs.  So does Buick, and that brand won't even be there.  Honda - which still sells real cars, including an all-new Prelude that retuned that nameplate to the Honda lineup after a quarter-century absence - wont be there, either, and neither will be Mazda.  Sure, Volkswagen will be there - but I can see the latest VW models at my dealer when I take my own VW for service every June. 

So what's making hesitate before ruling out another auto show trip altogether?  BMW and Cadillac - two of my favorite luxury brands - are returning to the New York auto show for the first time in nearly a decade.  BMW always has great cars on display, having refused to give up on sedans and even coupes, and Cadillac, in addition to having traditional sports sedans, has introduced two new EVs with old-school land-yacht flair combined with sporty fastback styling.  So I'm intrigued.

I'm also suspicious.  I remember the Mercedes-Benz and Audi displays from last year.  Each brand had only two or three cars each behind velvet ropes.  Naturally, the cars were locked so you couldn't get in them.    I have a sneaky feeling that the BMW and Cadillac displays will be similarly token exhibits.   I won't know for certain until I see the 2026 New York auto shows floor plan, which hasn't been released yet.

Then again, even it BMW and Cadillac do have real displays that are worth the trip, would the rest of the show be worth it?  Having to skip the Ford display owing to lack of an interesting car to look at (sad to say, the current Mustang doesn't thrill me).  More exhibits aimed at amusement, like the indoor EV test-drive track, that makes the show more like a limpid world's fair?  Besides, after seeing Autostadt in Wolfsburg, Germany, I don't know why I would go to an American auto shoe to see even Volkswagen. 

I've always looked forward to the Easter season with the knowledge that the New York auto show was opening ever since the show's organizers moved it to the Jacob Javits Center and started scheduling it for Easter Week beginning in 1987.  But whether or not I go this year, I'm aware that it won't be the same as the shows of yore.  The nature of the product has changed, and they are changes I do not like. 

The General Is Motorin'

General Motors reached a milestone of sorts today when it paid back all $6.7 billion it borrowed from the United States government - not to mention $1.4 billion owed to the Canadian government - five years ahead of schedule, putting it on a sounder footing for the immediate future. As it struggles to regain a respectable share of the North American auto market, the taxpayers' remaining interest in GM - $45.3 billion in stock -will eventually be offered for sale. If GM's new products are strong sellers in the showrooms, that could be sooner rather than later.

Thanks to CEO Ed Whitacre, the General is a leaner and more efficient car company, having terminated several brands (RIP, Pontiac and Saturn) and sold Saab. Chevrolet remains the entry-level division, Buick is the medium-priced brand, and Cadillac remains the luxury brand, with GMC Truck the choice of people who wouldn't be caught dead in a Chevy SUV. In Europe, GM still has Opel, whose German engineering is already having a positive effect on Buick's products as the technology gets spread around.

I saw several GM cars at the auto show in New York earlier this month, and while I remained a die-hard Volkswagen enthusiast, I left the GM displays rather impressed. (Actually, I left Cadillac disappointed, realizing that the XLR two-seater had been discontinued, but that's another story.) They have some very formidable product, especially with the electrically powered Volt, which is miles ahead of the Toyota Prius, and I hope Buick builds the GS version of its new Regal. These cars are among the most modern and advanced vehicles GM has offered in a long time, and a happy coincidence of events - a new health care law that benefits its workers, debts wiped out in bankruptcy, corporate restructuring - have made the company more competitive.

Never has they saying that what's good for General Motors is good for the country been more true. Although folks like Senator Bob Corker, Republican of foreign-transplant-car-factory-rich Tennessee (VW is building a plant there too: full disclosure!), opposed this bailout, there were 77,000 good reasons to support it. That's the number of jobs saved by the government's action.

Having saved automobile manufacturing in this country, the government now ought to turn to developing more regional public transit.