• by Karl Greenberg , April 3, 2009

The worst of times are the best of times for journalists thriving on drama. Especially auto drama for those (still employed) covering the New York International Auto Show beginning Wednesday. The stakes could not be higher when the 20-something manufacturers who sell new cars and trucks in the U.S. converge on the Jacob Javits Center.

Automakers will pull the blankets off of some 33 new cars, trucks and what Chrysler used to call (in more salubrious times, when it was DaimlerChrysler) "segment busters." There will also be an array of concepts. A common theme: automobiles that can run on everything but pork chops.

General Motors will very likely avoid the pachyderm in the room -- whether or not it will be in one piece by year's end -- and focus on Chevy and Caddie, the former with the much-anticipated 2010 Camaro, and for the latter an electric-powered Caddie concept called Converj that uses GM's hybrid Voltec engine that runs gasoline or ethanol; and a new 2010 SRX crossover and CTS wagon.

Chrysler will show electric/hybrid concepts for Dodge and Chrysler divisions -- 200C and Dodge Circuit, and Ford will unveil the new Taurus car, filling a segment -- large cars -- that hasn't been on fire since the original Taurus, which was a mid-sized car, rolled out in the '80s. What Ford has done since Alan Mulally took the helm of the Dearborn, Mich. automaker in 2007 is to build up an array of on-board digital and telematics.

The company will use the show to offer visitors a demonstration buffet of these products -- gadgetry that the company has installed in its vehicles over the past two years, much of it embedded in the $26,000 2010 Taurus. Among the standout features are Cross Traffic Alert, Collision Warning, and -- my favorite -- "MyKey," which actually lets you program the vehicle's key to limit things your adolescent can do in the vehicle, such as traveling 120 in a 35-mph zone. Ford's Lincoln brand will unveil the MKT, a three-row crossover.

Hyundai, which has hired GM designer Phillip Zac to run its U.S. studio, wants to make as dramatic a change in its status among consumers as it did back in the late 1990s when it introduced its 10-year warranty and went from a last-resort brand to a competitive good-value-for-the-money automaker. Now Hyundai -- which last year bowed its first premium car, Genesis -- wants Americans to desire, not just value, its vehicles. And, as with most things desirable, looks matter.

To that end, Hyundai will unveil a concept at the show that is intended to demonstrate that the company has emerged as a force in auto design. The Nuvis concept -- the 11th to be designed at its California Design Center -- will likely set the design direction for Hyundai crossovers, says the company.

More from the show.