Last week, I fulfilled a bucket list item that I had since I was a kid: cover an auto show car reveal in-person.
It was exciting to attend my hometown auto show in a way that I haven’t done before. I wish to do it again, but I felt something different when I walked onto the show floor at the Javits Center.
The show is a much different show than from what I remember.
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There were cars, but lots fewer than before. Everything seemed spaced out, as if the cars on the floor were holding onto two parking spots instead of one to make it look like it is taking up more space.
As I walked across the show floor during the first press day, I noticed that while there were cars, there weren’t many brands actually exhibiting at the show, reduced to an amount that seemed like there wasn't that much diversity and variety.
That morning, I attended Hyundai’s keynote for the updated Tucson crossover SUV and Santa Cruz light pickup. In the audience were some of the autoworkers who worked on the assembly line of the Tucson and Santa Cruz in Montgomery, Alabama.
James Ochoa
The automaker did not fly out just their employees; they brought out whole families including the children, to attend the show as special guests and shake hands with executives from Hyundai's North American and South Korean offices.
As I observed the children who sat next to their parents in the front row of the reveal, I thought to myself; 'man, they flew all the way out here. They get some days off from school, and it is probably their first time in a big city like New York. But, they don't know how the auto show used to be.'
Not to portray myself as someone that much older or wiser, but when I was their age, the New York International Auto Show was a completely different animal from the show that is today.
James Ochoa
Forgive me for romanticizing it, but the auto show was a place of wonder, a place for discovery. It was a no-holds-barred and no judgement environment for those in the market for a car or just browsing around to see what's new and what's cool.
It was also a place where the proletariat could experience what the bourgeoisie drive and vice versa without judgement.
Every year, right around Easter, my dad could plop down in the drivers seat of a Ford Mustang GT and fantasize about rolling into his office parking garage, or long drives with my mom. It was also an appropriate place where my sister could [jokingly] beg my parents for a Lexus or Mercedes.
James Ochoa
The auto show allowed me to see all those cool, expensive cars that celebrities showed off on MTV Cribs, or the sports cars that I only got to experience through a Playstation 2 controller playing Gran Turismo 4.
During these two weeks around Easter, budding and passionate enthusiasts are meant to gather and experience a diverse cornucopia of the automotive world, as well as share their excitement and criticism in an open environment.
But as time goes on, people change and the world changes around them.
'We are not cavemen, we have technology'
If there is one person that I can solely 'blame' for all of this, it would be the late Apple founder and former CEO Steve Jobs. Don’t get me wrong, I love Apple’s suite of electronics, but there was a formula that he perfected.
If there is one thing that he and his successor Tim Cook are really good at, it’s making the layman excited about electronics. They sold customers on the latest and greatest gadgets, even if the only thing that actually changed on the damn iPhone was a new color or the 3.5mm headphone jack moving from the top of the phone to the bottom (or completely removing the headphone jack altogether).
How did they turn the public into Apple fans? Keynotes.
It’s a perfect formula. Apple announces that they will have an “event,” and will generate buzz by keeping what is being revealed a secret. People on tech blogs will then start talking about whether it’s a new iPod, iPhone, iPad, only to be revealed at a presentation that is live-streamed to the masses.
The best thing about it? Whether the presentation takes place in a packed theatre or in front of a camera in a studio, it will be picked up by the world’s press, whether they cover tech or not.
And it works.
Believe me, I am a sucker too. — Sent from my iPhone
Car companies picked up on this trend too, live-streaming various reveals and events from all over the world to computer, smartphone and TV screens everywhere.
Currently, Toyota is making a huge buzz on car blogs because it is teasing the next-generation of one of its most popular SUVs: the 4Runner. At the time of this writing, they have just revealed a date of April 9 for its reveal event.
But there is one problem with that formula: it has the ability to eliminate a physical presence for the reveal.
Companies do not need to spend money to actually be anywhere. After the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw companies become more inclined to use digital means and save some money, rather than to drag everyone to one room where they can get their germs all up in each other.
Though WWDC takes place at Apple Park, Apple events these days are pre-recorded. Nintendo Direct doesn’t take place at E3 anymore, nor did Dodge’s announcement of the new electric Charger Daytona take place at an actual auto show. Make matters worse, E3 does not exist anymore, and Stellantis does not participate in any auto shows anymore.
Actually, when you look at the map of this year's New York International Auto Show, a lot of brands that showed off their extensive lineup at previous auto shows are no longer there anymore.
BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, Dodge, Maserati, and Mini are just some of the brands that are missing at this year’s auto show.
With all the brands that used to participate, the main halls of the Javits Center used to resemble a packed parking lot during the auto show. Today, it feels like a sparsely packed showroom, where the square footage is occupied by more dead space than actual cars.
But times change.
A reflection and a solution
The New York International Auto Show and other auto shows around the world are evolving into something that may have them playing a different role in the future. But at the same time, as technology evolves, “virtual experiences,” online keynotes and product announcements do not match having the car in front of you in the flesh — even behind a shin-height barrier of plexiglass.
Car manufacturers are even turning to the metaverse to launch their cars. In October 2023, BMW announced a new model through Fortnite. Yes, the video game Fortnite. Additionally, Hyundai has launched what it calls "immersive content" through the video game Roblox.
But technology is not all that bad, it can help you become a more involved car enthusiast. Despite what experts and politicians have said about the inherent dangers of social media, it has helped me become closer to my local car community.
BMW enthusiasts inspect the front facia of a vintage BMW M3 (E30) at a Cars and Coffee event in Fort Lee, N.J.
James Ochoa
I know that some of you are reading this are asking ‘where can I go to see some cool cars besides the auto show?’
My answer: get closer to your local car community and attend any and every local car show, car meet, and cars and coffee that you can.
Announcements for car shows, car meets and events, as well as pages for local car clubs for any brand, classic or modern, are all for the discovery on Instagram and other social media platforms.
A simple search of "car club" or "cars and coffee" and wherever state, big city or local area you live in on Instagram or Facebook is a great start to get your feet wet. Additionally, websites like Hemmings provide listings for events in your local area.
Events like these allow you to get a pulse of how owners feel about their cars and even get closer to some cars that you may only be able to see in the flesh at the big auto show in the city without actually having to go to the city.
Some shows around where I live are also attended by local vehicle dealers — the first time I ever sat in a Hyundai Ioniq 5 was at a Hyundai dealer’s booth at a car show put on by a local high school.
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My favorite kind of event is Cars and Coffee, they usually take place in parking lots, or on closed streets adjacent to coffee shops on the weekends and are attended by an eclectic variety of modern and classic cars. New and old Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, classic BMWs, old 60's and 70's muscle cars and multi-million dollar collectible hypercars are just some of the cool rides that I have seen at various Cars and Coffee events without being held back by a plexiglass barrier.
Point is, there is much more to car events than auto shows like the New York International. Though the forces that be might change the auto show for better or worse because of the advent of new technology, technology can help you expand your horizons.
With spring coming up, it means one thing to car enthusiasts like me: it is car show season.
If something doesn't scratch your itch, you just need to look beyond what you already know.
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