If it’s April in NYC, you know two things are happening: Mets fans are already complaining and the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) is back in town.
While the New York show is one of the biggest in the nation, lately this show and others as in LA have become smaller as some luxury automakers shun the shows for their own events. However one big trend has put the show back in the spotlight for auto buyers — a slew of new EVs.
While Tesla isn’t going to be there, all the other big names will - GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, Nissan, Ram, Honda, and many others.
Nissan is returning with a special NISMO edition of its legendary sports car — the GT-R — but also a new version of its long-awaited Ariya EV.
The Ariya rides on a special EV platform that Nissan is using for its electrified cars. Part of the company’s Ambition 2030 program, the Japanese automaker will have 23 electrified cars (15 pure EVs) on sale by 2030.
The Ariya was supposed to come out in 2022, but it was delayed.
“We had some issues with our supply chain network and you know, all the issues that plagued us around the supply chain last year,” said Aditya Jairaj, Nissan's senior director of EV strategy and transformation, in an interview with Yahoo Finance. “We're in market; we sold our first [Ariya] in December, and I think it's fair to say that every Nissan EV-certified dealership has an Ariya.”
Finally now in showrooms, Nissan trotted out the all-wheel drive version of the car — the Ariya e-4ORCE for the New York show. Soon both models will be on sale at Nissan dealerships, and they couldn’t come soon enough; Jairaj says customer interest in the EV is very high.
The Ariya joins a fairly competitive segment of the EV SUV landscape, where the Tesla Model Y runs supreme. Ford is nipping at its heels with the Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai with the IONIQ 5, and VW with its ID.4 EV. Recent price cuts by Tesla have put pressure on the space, but Nissan believes it doesn’t need to respond.
“Our price strategy has been quite consistent,” Jairaj said. “We haven't taken huge swings in pricing, and today, you know, from a visual price perspective, we're pretty competitive.”
Jairaj notes the standard range Ariya e-4ORCE costs around $47,000 (around 210 miles of range), and the extended range version costing around $53,000 (272 miles of range) — which compares favorably to the Model Y.
Other EVs to watch
While not a debut, Ram will be in attendance with the new Ram 1500 REV. Attendees will get the chance to size up the Ram 1500 REV against its full-size competition, the Silverado EV and Ford F-150 Lightning EV. The 1500 REV features a massive vertical touchscreen, a frunk similar to the Lightning’s, and innovative third-row pop-out jumpseats.
Hyundai’s Genesis luxury line just dropped images of its New York debut — the GV70 Coupe concept as they’re calling it, a sporty EV SUV. Genesis calls the design “athletic elegance,” and it shows with its svelte design, motorsports-inspired “Magma” color scheme and alcantara-trimmed sports seats with matching magma orange stitching. Genesis didn’t reveal performance details of the GV70, but if it does come out in production form, expect over 500hp.
Finally Hyundai sister brand Kia might have the star of the show, the North American debut of its EV9 SUV. The three-row SUV EV looks the part of urban and off-road adventure, its rugged boxy design looking both handsome and capable at the same time. Kia dug deep with its design, bringing forward an almost-futuristic interpretation of Toyota’s venerable Land Cruiser for modern times. A high-performance version will have 379 horsepower, Kia said, but a rear-wheel drive version will have the longest range, of around 280 miles.
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Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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