Last night, the organizers of the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) announced that the annual show which takes place in early April has been postponed to August due to the concerns of the coronavirus crisis. This makes the NYIAS the second major auto show to be canceled after this month’s last-minute cancellation of the world-renowned Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland.
The postponed NYAS show puts a hamper on Detroit-based automakers including Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) showing off their new products. With the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) moving from its annual January date to June and the postponed NYIAS show till August, it has left only the Chicago Auto Show and the Canadian International Auto Show as the only two major shows where the automotive industry have been able to show off their latest products.
With the number of prototypes of the 2021 Dodge Durango models on the streets of Metro Detroit lately, we were expecting to see the updated 2021 Dodge Durango and its new SRT Hellcat variant to officially make their debut at NYIAS next month. Now that the date has been pushed back to August, we are not sure if Dodge//SRT will debut the vehicles without the show (like what other FCA brands did when the Geneva show was cancelled), push the debut back to the Detroit show later this summer, or hold a special event on its own.
Dodge has had a strong history of showing off many of its new products in New York. Vehicles like the 2014 Dodge Durango, the 2015 Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger, as well as the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon.
The Jeep® brand is also another FCA brand that usually likes to show off its newest creations in New York. The brand has brought several new and updated vehicles to the “Big Apple” for their first appearance, including the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, 2015 Jeep Renegade, updated 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the 707 horsepower 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.
MoparInsiders was also hoping to see more details on the new Jeep® Wrangler Unlimited 4xe lineup at the NYIAS as well. You might remember, that the Jeep brand showed off the new Wrangler Unlimited 4xe to the public in January at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. While it was on display along with the Renegade 4xe and Compass 4xe models, no information was provided about the new electrified Wrangler. We could see more of the new electrified Wrangler at the annual Moab Easter Jeep Safari, so stay tuned.
FCA brands have a number of new and updated products coming this next year and this auto show season was going to be our first chance to see the vehicle up close and in person. However, with the global coronavirus crisis shutting down events on a daily basis, we may have to wait a little longer than expected to see the new product.
