32 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • MARCH 2018 32 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2017 32 LONGISLANDPRESS.CO M • SEPTEMBER 201-----------TUTU111
UNDER THE HOOD
Rallye Auto Group eager for new models
By JEFF BERMAN
Like many car enthusiasts, Juliana
Curran Terian, President and CEO
of Rallye Auto Group in Roslyn, is
eager to see the new models that
carmakers take the wraps off of at
the New York International Auto
Show.
The show, which will be held at the
Jacob Javits Convention Center
in Manhattan March 30-April 8,
inspires an annual pilgrimage of
car enthusiasts and auto industry
types. As of mid-February, most
carmakers still hadn’t announced
what new models they planned
to show at the event, but some
clues snuck out.
“We don’t
know what they’re going to show
us because even they, at the last
minute, they’re scrambling to see
what they’re going to be able to
finish to put in the show,” Terian
says, noting that carmakers also
tout new models at other car shows
around the globe each year and try
to top themselves each time.
The carmakers typically hold
preview events in New York for car
dealers and reporters, right before
they open the show to the public.
Typically, much of the biggest
new car news winds up being
announced at those press events.
Terian has been attending the New
York show for about 15 years.
“I remember when smart cars first
came out and the cars that I saw at
the auto show weren’t necessarily
the cars that we were able to get to
sell,” she says. “I loved those and
when I went to Europe and went to
the auto show, those were always
the most fun. They had all the
electric cars.”
Rallye Auto Group — which has
separate Acura, BMW, Lexus and
Mercedes-Benz dealerships on
Long Island —
doesn’t
carry
such vehicles since
“there’s not a big ask for
electric in our market,” she
says. “We do more luxury cars
in our neighborhoods where our
dealerships are.”
The all-electric cars aren’t as
popular as the hybrid car models
that use gas and electric, she notes,
saying hybrid models are “really
the way to go in the future.”
On the luxury car front, Terian
said she had heard Lexus will
probably show the 2018 LS (luxury
sedan) at the New York show,
calling that a “beautiful car” that
she saw in summer 2017 at the
annual dealer meeting in Colorado.
Lexus confirmed that it will be
showing the new LS at the show.
The carmaker already announced
that new flagship LS at the North
American International Auto Show
in Detroit in January and even
ran a Super Bowl ad for it. Terian
expects that model to be available
in March, by the time the New
York show starts.
It’s also possible that BMW will
show the 2019 i8 hybrid Roadster,
she says. BMW declined to provide
any details on what it
planned to tout at the New York
show. But the carmaker already
showed that model at the Los
Angeles Auto Show last year.
The convertible car “has a soft top
that opens in 15 seconds,” Terian
says of the model, predicting it will
be “hot” and customers are “going
to eat it up” – especially the ones
who like to be the first ones to get
something. “If it’s beautiful and
it’s environmentally responsible,”
that’s a big plus.
So far, Rallye hasn’t carried a lot of
hybrid car models simply because
the brands its dealerships carry
haven’t offered that many, she
notes.
“But whenever there’s a car that you
can get either all gas or hybrid…
people go for the hybrid,” she says.
“I bet our customers would be more
interested in safety features than in
hybrids if they had to choose one
thing to pay more for… especially
the Mercedes customer.”
It also remains to be seen if
any carmakers will showcase
autonomous/self-driving car
models at the New York show.
“If any of our
customers would
be interested
in it, I think they
would have one as the other car;
like the second car would be one,
or maybe the fifth car,” Terian says.
Although the technology is close to
becoming available, it also remains
to be seen how fast they will make
it on our roads because “people
want to drive their own car,” she
says.
at NY Auto Show
2018 Lexus LS
START YOUR ENGINES
The New York
International Auto Show
will be held at the Jacob
Javits Convention Center
March 30-April 8.