Bigger, louder, better

For some reason, when the auto companies screen forthcoming commercials during the New York International Auto Show, they’re heard at ear-splitting volume.

So as I was getting a headache from the pounding rock music in the Mercedes-Benz ML350 ad, I also had to watch the darned thing climb mountains and plow straight into streams – exactly the kind of behavior the car companies warn against through their trade organization Tread Lightly! ("Don’t straddle large rocks," it says at Treadlightly.org. "Cross streams slowly, at a 90-degree angle to the stream.")

The big news from Mercedes was not the freshened "M" series but (as introduced by a large cast of dancers) the all-new "R," a cross between an SUV and a station wagon with a distinct family resemblance to the Chrysler Pacifica. Mercedes expects big things of the just-under-$50,000 vehicle, and to accommodate it has invested $600 million in doubling the size of the Tuscaloosa, Ala., plant.

The "R" is quite a bit pricier than the $30,000 Pacifica, so the continuing allure of the three-pointed star will be important here.

The keynote speaker at the event was the David Niven look-alike Gary Cowper, president of General Motors North America. Like Lucille Ball, he had a lot of ‘splainin’ to do, considering that GM had just announced two consecutive quarters of sub-par performance. "It’s been a tough week for all of us," he said. "We need to press ahead, and we will."

GM’s strategy to get out of the hole is a combination of 17 new models (including the Pontiac G6 and the Chevrolet Cobalt) and what Cowper called "increasing marketing support, with more of a value focus." A "strategic use of incentives" also will be involved. Like your uncle in bellbottoms, GM is trying to get Web savvy. It has launched a blog (http://fastlane.gmblogs.com), is "podcasting" executive speeches and recently sent the press launch of the Z06 Corvette to prospective customers with video-enabled cell phones.

It being the auto show, I got to see a number of cool-looking concept vehicles, and got my first look at GM’s fuel-cell-powered Sequel (which was larger than I’d expected). To increase the hipness factor, a robot voice announced that this zero-emission vehicle can do 0-60 in less than 10 seconds (and has a 300-mile range).

Also new and hip was a version of the new Honda Civic Si with a steeply raked front windshield. Honda spokesperson Andy Boyd said the show car "is 90 percent of what the real Civic will look like." It should make a lovely hybrid.

I liked the Volkswagen Ragster, a chopped VW Beetle convertible based on the Porsche Speedster. Other neat concept vehicles include the Chrysler Firepower, a Jaguar XKE for our time with a 6.1-liter Hemi engine under the hood, and the slippery battery-electric Volvo 3CC (with a reported 180-mile range from lithium-ion batteries).

The Toyota FJ Cruiser demonstrated that the Japanese will build Hummer clones if that’s what Americans want, and there were plenty of SUV/wagon/cross-over ideas like the Infiniti Kuraza (it resembled a huge Mini!), the Acura RD-X, the Dodge Caliber, the Suzuki Concept-X and the Kia KCD-II Mesa.

Just before I left, I spent a few minutes with the 5.7-liter Hemi-powered Dodge Charger R/T Daytona. In "Go Man Go" metallic orange, it’s big, ugly and a tremendously macho vehicle. When I was 16 and working my first job at a Chrysler dealer, I coveted the boss’ orange Charger. I expect its reincarnation to be one of the biggest hits of the 2006 model year.