The world’s biggest free motoring event returns to NYC
Located at 200 Vesey Street, the seventh annual New York City Motorexpo retains a unique car show format; the week-long event is free and open to the general public. With main events occurring in London, Toronto and New York, the Motorexpo provides visitors an excellent hands-on opportunity to talk with company representatives and find out information about the latest vehicle models.
Motorexpo 2014, which took place at the World Financial Center last week (Sept. 7-12), featured a wide array of 2014 and 2015 models. These cars arrived from some of the biggest car manufacturers in the business, including companies like Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Cadillac, Tesla and others. According to Motorexpo’s website, the team is “passionate about letting manufacturers show people their great new cars for free.”
Ten-year-old girls jumped in and out of luxury $200,000 Mercedes-Benz cars with an elation only surpassed by the adults accompanying them, some of whom have been to every Motorexpo since its New York debut, seven years ago.
“I have a love/hate relationship with this city,” John, a Staten Island resident, said after emerging from underneath the bottom of a Cadillac 2015 ATS Sedan, where he had been checking out the car’s frame. John said Motorexpo is an “irreplaceable” part, and to a large extent the cause, of is fondness for the Big Apple.
After looking at the Cadillac’s interior, John lamented the fact that there were no company employees in the vicinity to answer his questions regarding price and fuel efficiency.
Indeed, it seemed that the majority of car company employees were in the Brookfield Place Winter Garden itself, a massive glass-domed structure that seemed to house the more expensive car models. Directly outside this structure, at the Waterfront Plaza, Tesla was making its debut appearance at New York’s Motorexpo event.
Franco, a first-year Tesla employee, said that the car company will start coming to the event annually “for the same reason other companies are here--for brand awareness.”
Franco explained that the models they had on display were there because they were all very customizable. He went on to describe how Tesla distinguishes itself from other car companies in that they do not use dealerships, so their prices are not marked up for the average consumer.
Style points definitely played a huge role in attracting the hundreds of motor-enthusiasts to the expo. The elegance and variety of these models is something that many feel they must not only see but experience themselves.