• by Tanya Gazdik , Staff Writer, August 23, 2021

Several automakers went forward with their reveals, even keeping their live New York events, despite the auto show being cancelled.

Planned as a global debut at the show, the all-new seventh-generation 2023 Nissan Z made its first appearance in the heart of New York City last Tuesday during a party attended by about 125 guests.

While the six previous generations of Nissan’s iconic sports car all offered numeric designations, the redesign will be known in the United States simply by just one letter, Z.

“It was a very limited number of folks, but the event went off well,” according to a Nissan spokesperson. "As it was a global reveal -- including for Japan and ZCON, the annual Z car convention (taking place in Colorado Springs this past week)  -- our audience was mainly virtual.”

The 20-minute Nissan Z premiere was live-streamed on the automaker’s social media channels. It has garnered nearly 91,000 views on YouTube alone.

At the live event, Nissan adhered to New York City laws and regulations, as well as for the venue itself. The automaker required guests to wear masks as well as provide either proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test from within 72 hours before the event. Even before the auto show’s cancellation, attendance was limited to 250 (including staff) even though the event space could accommodate well over 1,000. 

Infiniti also hosted a live event in New York on Wednesday. The luxury automaker unveiled its 2022 SUV and crossover lineup at an installation at the Oculus Transportation Hub.

The vehicles were on display as part of a curated art installation presented by the automaker and artist Daniel Wurtzel.

The all-new 2022 QX60 luxury SUV was showcased alongside the QX50, all-new QX55, and updated 2022 QX80 for the very first time during the three-day installation.  

Another vehicle that was set to debut at the New York show was Hyundai’s all-new 2022 Elantra N. The automaker instead pulled the wraps off the vehicle in a 17-minute online debut. Elantra N is a high-performance variant of the new Elantra. 

Another planned New York Auto Show debut, that of the 2022 Sorento Turbo Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) SUV, is the latest addition to Kia’s ambitious electrification strategy. The new model is offered with a 66.9 kW electric motor and a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine that combine to achieve 261 horsepower.

Also set to debut at the show, the 2022 Lincoln Navigator also received an online debut. It is the first Lincoln vehicle to offer ActiveGlide, an evolution of intelligent adaptive cruise control.