Every few months, we venture out from our cubicles and meet en masse with people we, at times, consider extended family, heading to locales all over the U.S.â€"and the world sometimesâ€"to hit up yet another auto show. Next week, we’re reconvening in the Big Apple to bring you all the news that fit to digitally publish from the Jacob Javits Center. There, we’ll be engrossed in the sights, sounds, cars, and pastrami sandwiches on rye we can handle at the New York Auto Show.
This week was a precursor, with so much attention being doled out by automakers towards it that we couldn’t possibly fit it all into our Week in Review. Search back through our news blog for all of it. But in addition to the New York Auto Show, some other news made headlines, sneaking in during a busy week. From Cadillac to Hyundai, and plenty in between, here’s what happened this week. And, once again, if you have any special requests for pictures of any particular cars next week in New York, leave a comment here or on our Facebook page, and we’ll see what we can do you satiate your automotive needs.
 Monday, March 18
Cadillac has for decades called itself the Standard of the World, entertaining the best luxury cars around the globe with rivals that have been hits and misses. More hits than misses recently. With the Cadillac CTS receiving a full-on redesign for 2014, the automaker went a decidedly different approach than BMW or Mercedes-Benz, offering up a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V-6 with 420 horsepower in place of a V-8. Although it’s expected to grow in size and refinement to rival the Germans, Cadillac claims the 2014 CTS will be able to hit 60 mph from standstill in 4.6 seconds on its way to 170 mph. That’s a little faster than the first-generation CTS-V that shared its engine with the Chevrolet Corvette Z06. All that power will be routed to the rear wheels via a new eight-speed automatic transmission. Caddy ain’t messing around.
Tuesday, March 19
Small is the new big, and all the German automakers seem to be on the same page with that. The latest evidence: A video of the Mercedes-Benz GLA testing in the dead of winter. Slotting below the GLK, the GLA is expected to be based on the same mechanicals as the CLA compact “four-door coupe.†Don’t expect it to be tackling the Rubicon Trailâ€"that job will be delegated to the even smaller GLG. Instead, expect what looks to be a tall-roof, all-wheel-drive hatchback to show its stuff in the urban jungle alongside other small, urban crossovers. Range Rover started this trend with the Evoque in the U.S.; Buick followed suit with the Encore. Mercedes-Benz is well on its way to making a tiny ute of its own.
Wednesday, March 20
The unfortunate reality of contests is that there’s a bunch of legalese that has to come with them in the litigation-happy U.S. Well, it’s unfortunate if you’re General Motors, at least. We don’t mind so much. That’s because the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, which has been notably elusive of a price tag, has finally go tten a number attached to it. In a contest giving away one of the new sports cars, Chevrolet said the car in question was a touch under $ 73,000. But for what options? We’re going to assume fully loaded. After all, at the Detroit Auto Show in January, we were told the car would likely start around $ 55,000 and top out around $ 70,000 until the convertible and higher-performance versions show up. We’re going to trust our sources on this one.
Thursday, March 21
While we’re in the City That Never Sleeps, Hyundai is going to be having some fun of its own in Seoul. At this year’s Seoul Motor Show, it will be displaying its HND-9 concept, which it calls a luxury performance coupe. Hyundai’s HND concept cars have been notable because so many of them have made it to production. If we’re giving a good guess, this one ought to stand in for the next-generation Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Rear-wheel drive and powered by a turbocharged 3.3-liter V-6 producing 370 horsepower, the HND-9 has all the makings for one fast son of a gun. Plush and powerful, Hyundai is obviously going more for the Infiniti G37/Q50 coupe crowd than the Scion FR-S set. While very much a concept, we expect this car is a strong indication of what the Genesis Coupe will look like in a few years.
Friday, March 22
We’ve seen the BMW 4 Series Concept already at the Detroit Auto Show, and we knew it was more or less a production car with a few changes here and there. Turns out, outside of some strakes in the front and rear bumpers, it’s not changing much. But those strakes also made it lo ok considerably more exotic than the production-ready car seen on the streets of Germany. Photographed without a hint of camouflage, the new 4 Series is replacing the 3 Series coupe here in a few months. Power is expected to come from the same engines as the 3. Despite the new name, we like what we’re seeing.
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