While the annual New York Auto Show isn't quite as jammed with new cars and concepts as say the Geneva event a month before, this year's show was well worth attending. In case you couldn't make the hop over to NYC for yourself here's an overview of the best cars of the show.
Range Rover Sport and Daniel Craig
The car that created the biggest buzz was the new Range Rover Sport. It's based on the underpinnings of the Range Rover so is much lighter and quicker than before. Land Rover claims that it's the fastest and most agile vehicle it has ever made. The New York debut was appropriate as the company sells more of the Sport model in the Manhattan area than anywhere else in the world. Of course, much of the excitement surrounding the car's unveiling came from the fact that Daniel Craig himself drove it through the streets of New York to the launch venue.
Jaguar's goes performance mad
Land Rover's sister brand didn't want to be overshadowed by the above so it gave two high-performance models their world debuts in New York. The first, the XJR saloon, is billed as the fastest and most driver-focused version of the XJ ever produced. It's powered by a supercharged V8 engine putting out 550hp.
Even that looked tame next to the Jaguar XKR-S GT. Though featuring the same 550hp engine, this two-door coupé is targeted at drivers that regularly attend track days with their cars. Jaguar's engineers have substantially altered the car's bodywork to produce useful downforce. Bad news for potential buyers though: not only is production limited to 30 examples, but they're all for North American buyers.
Mercedes-Benz creates mini super saloon
Continuing the performance theme, Mercedes-Benz revealed the new CLA 45 AMG. It's the fastest version of the new CLA 'four-door coupé' - or 'baby CLS' to most. The AMG version really looks the part and it's not all mouth no trousers either, as it's powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine. It's a rather special unit though, developing 360hp. Thankfully power is distributed to all four wheels.
Subaru WRX brand reignited
Speaking of four-wheel drive, Subaru, still trading on its all-wheel drive reputation, rekindled the WRX brand with a stunning looking concept car called simply the WRX. It took the form of the oh so trendy four-door coupé and despite the concept car glitz looks quite close to production.
The Americans
The home-grown US brands had plenty to shout about too, though most of the new models revealed will never make it to Ireland. That includes the hardcore Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 with its 7.0-litre V8 engine and the equally dramatic Viper SRT. Rather more sedate are the revamped Cadillac CTS (a BMW 5 Series rival) and an all-new Jeep Cherokee that, divisive styling aside, could work well here.