NEW YORK — In our digital age, being permanently plugged in — in more ways than one — is essential, as was made abundantly clear by the well-connected new vehicles unveiled at this year's New York International Auto Show, opening tomorrow and continuing through April 15. The resonating theme at the fair was design for the future. There were definite standouts: the MIT-designed Terrafugia Transition “flying car,” which gave hourly demonstrations of its wings unfolding; and Nissan’s very sensible and quasi-futuristic Taxi of Tomorrow. Overall, though, two major trends became apparent in the new models: engagement with social media, especially interfaces featuring embedded music; and very stylish new approaches to plug-in technology.
Plug-in concepts abounded both in the higher-end luxury vehicles and more affordable ones. While BMW’s big presentation was the new 640i Gran Coupe — the first four-door coupe in the brand’s history — it was the sleek i8 and the dowdier i3 concept cars that drew our attention. Evoking the streamlined silhouette of a sports car, the luxury of BMW, and the futurism of “Tron,” the concepts signified sustainability without sacrificing presentation. Both cars feature electric-blue accents and flashy butterfly wings, with charging stations that featured matching neon blue.
Toyota and Ford were both showcasing their plug-in technology as well, with car-charging devices that could be hooked up at home as one would a washing machine. Fisker, the relatively new California-based automaker, debuted the sinuous Atlantic, an extended-range luxury sedan. The latest model of the solar panel-outfitted roof of the Fisker Karma, which put the brand on the map in 2008 as one of the world’s first production-ready plug-in vehicles, was probably the most impressive vehicle of the entire show. At Volvo’s very Swedish-looking booth (Arne Jacobsen’s Grand Prix chair furnished its lounge) the Volvo XC60 Plug-in Hybrid concept, introduced earlier this year in Detroit, was literally center stage. Its exhaust pipes, square white grates as opposed to the traditional black metal pipes, seemed to indicate that they emit something cleaner.
Meanwhile the digital entertainment system has suddenly become this generation of car-buyers' must-have accessory, like built-in DVD players for the soccer moms of yesteryear. Brands made major selling points of their “infotainment” capabilities, highlighting their associations with other major brands in the fields of technology, media, and social media. At Hyundai’s unveiling of their new Sante Fe, a crossover meant to appeal to young families, one of the most prominent amenities was a Pandora interface, a trend we saw throughout the show. Ford touted its collaboration with Sirius XM, which includes traffic monitoring in addition to music, and was promoted with the slogan: “Let me entertain (and inform) you.” Acura’s new RLX concept car featured touchscreen accessibility to Facebook.
For its part, Mini promoted its Mini Connected, a dashboard amenity that links to your iPhone’s music files and GPS capabilities, as well as Pandora and the standard social media apps — Twitter, MOG, and the like. The diminutive car company promoted the feature by claiming that “you are always online, even when motoring.” God forbid you’d miss a status update just because your hands are on the wheel. We nevertheless ogled Mini’s Yachtsman — an amphibious boat vehicle that boasted its ability to withstand shark attacks — until we realized it was a cruel April Fool’s joke.
The rest of the of show was furnished with the glitz and glamour you’d expect from the world’s leading automakers, from flashy presentations, to tarps dramatically flying off, as if by magic, to uncover dazzling new vehicles, all to a never-ending dubstep soundtrack.
To see the rest of our highlights from the New York International Auto Show 2012, click the slide show.