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The 2027 Getaway is based on the new all-electric Toyota Highlander and will be Subaru's largest EV. It’s also the most powerful Subaru ever, with a 420-hp (313 kW) AWD powertrain. (Subaru)

New York 2026: Product Diversity on Full Display

New powertrain choices keep popping up on new vehicles from OEMs that debuted at NYIAS this year.

The 2026 New York International Auto Show was – as any good auto show should be – a microcosm of the automotive industry writ large at this time.

Call it a reconsideration, a shift or just the latest in customer trends, but one thing was clear in New York this year: having options is the answer.

There were still markers that kept the past alive in New York, like Nissan’s gas-powered 2027 Z NISMO with an all-too-rare manual transmission. Still, when looking past enthusiast-focused models towards the larger market, it’s clear that everything from ICE models to EVs to PHEVs to hybrids will remain part of the U.S. market for years to come. Here are some highlights from NYIAS this year.

2027 Kia Seltos gains hybrid option, EV3 debuts

Kia’s new EV3 will go on sale in late 2026 with an estimated 320 miles (515 km) of range in its longest-range trims. (Sebastian Blanco)

Kia introduced the 2027 Seltos, highlighting the five-passenger SUV’s updated look and size. Kurt Kahl, chief designer, Kia Design Center America, told SAE Media that the strong vertical DRL signature, part of Kia’s new design language, frames the vehicle’s front corners to provide a strong “down-the-road presence” alongside the car’s wider, upright grille. The implied capability and strength of the Selto’s SUV look is something buyers are gravitating towards. “Something that can go between different characters: refined, upscale, elevated, but also can go more rugged, more off-road, more outdoor lifestyle, depending on the trim, the tires, and the color,” he said.

Kia is using new digital simulation tools to develop these looks, Kahl said, with overall aerodynamics and feasibility inputs from engineering teams all considered at the higher levels.“But really early on, the main goal is to go from whatever that sketch is, that early seed, that idea, into 3D as quickly as possible,” he said. “That being said, there’s still a lot of use for the hand sculpting in a clay model, because there’s a certain kind of sensitivity you can get when you have someone actually sculpting, feeling the surface, feeling the volume, that maybe you can achieve to a point with computer modeling, but we still feel it’s important to have that have that stage and get that sensitivity.”

Kia is also making changes Kia to the powertrain options for the Seltos, bringing in a hybrid option to join the 2.0-L normally aspirated and 1.6-L turbocharged engine choices in the 2026 model year. The new hybrid set-up will be Kia’s first electric AWD system on a hybrid SUV, but other than that, the automaker said it will provide more information about the hybrid Seltos later in 2026.

Late 2026 is also when the new EV3 will go on sale. Debuting alongside the Seltos and riding on the E-GMP architecture, the all-electric SUV looks better than its entry-level positioning might suggest. Looking like a right-sized and updated EV9, the EV3 will provide an estimated 320 miles (515 km) in its longest-range trims. A SAE J3400 NACS DC fast charging port will charge from 10 to 80% in just under 30 minutes on the Light trim and the EV3 will be able to be ordered with Vehicle to Load (V2L) capability.

Kia’s concept for a New York Taxi made from a Kia PV5 wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) will soon start testing in NYC. (Sebastian Blanco)

Kia also displayed a concept New York Taxi made from a Kia PV5 wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV). The automaker said two companies will soon start testing the vehicle in NYC to help determine the feasibility of real-world production.

Subaru’s Toyota partnership gets bigger

Subaru unveiled two new vehicles in New York, further adding to the number of EV and hybrid options coming to the U.S. market. First, the 2027 Getaway is an all-electric three-row SUV that continues the automaker’s EV partnership with Toyota. Based on the new all-electric Toyota Highlander, the Getaway will be Subaru's largest EV and will be available with a 420-hp (313 kW) AWD powertrain, making it the most powerful Subaru ever offered, said Jeffrey Walters, president and COO for Subaru of America, Inc., in New York. Also the largest EV Subaru has ever sold, the Getaway will be able to go from zero to 60 mph (97 kp/h) in less than five seconds and will offer up to 300 miles (483 km) of range. The Getaway will have 8.3-in (21 cm) of ground clearance and standard EyeSight driver assist. It will be built in Kentucky using U.S.-sourced batteries, Walters said.

Second, and arriving in winter 2026, is the 2027 Forester Wilderness Hybrid, which uses an Atkinson/Miller-cycle 2.5-L engine and electric motors to produce 194 hp (145 kW). The next-generation hybrid system uses a series-parallel configuration to integrate with the existing symmetrical AWD system. The hybrid Forester should provide around 25% better fuel economy than the ICE-only model. The hybrid model keeps the 9.3 inches (24 cm) of ground clearance, upgraded suspension, and all-terrain tires as the non-hybrid model.

A Hyundai surprise

Hyundai debuted its Boulder SUV concept at NYIAS 2026, giving us a preview of its upcoming mid-size pickup truck. (Sebastian Blanco)

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Hyundai in America, with the OEM selling its first vehicle here, a Hyundai Excel, in February 1986. To celebrate four decades, the automaker brought a bouncy new concept to New York, but mostly emphasized how much it has spent – and will keep spending – in the U.S. The Hyundai Motor Group has invested $20.5 billion in the U.S. since 1986 said earlier this year that it has plans for an additional $26 billion in U.S. investment between 2025 and 2028.

Some of that money will be spent bringing Hyundai’s still-under-wraps body-on-frame midsize pickup, which the company said last year would be sold in the U.S. before 2030 (with a body-on-frame SUV version following that, maybe). Leading up to New York, Hyundai teased that it would be revealing a “major world debut” with images of a floating rock. But instead of any news about the truck, Hyundai instead revealed a new design study called the Boulder Concept SUV, which was created at Hyundai Design North America.

“I bet you thought it was going to be a pickup truck, didn't you,” said SangYup Lee, executive vice president and head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design Center, Hyundai Motor Company, during the Boulder reveal.

Even though the Boulder isn’t a direct preview, it does share the body-on-frame construction and presents a few design traits from the truck. At first glance, the Boulder takes the simple, boxy shapes of a Jeep or Bronco Sport and runs them through Hyundai’s “Art of Steel” design philosophy with a Liquid Titanium finish. Add in two safari-style fixed windows in the ceiling, a low-profile roof rack, and coach-style doors for more side-loading room, and the Boulder Concept comes together. Unmissable 37-in mud-terrain 37x12.50R18 LT tires (and there’s a full-size spare on the tailgate) and reflective material on the ow hooks and door handles help the chunky SUV stand out. The design was led by Hyundai Design North America and the pickup, when it arrives, will be built in America from Hyundai-produced U.S. steel.

Lucid: evolution for better EVs

Lucid didn’t have a new model to show off in New York, but its display showed how the still-new luxury automaker is learning how to slim down its offerings as its consumer base grows. The company’s latest model, the Gravity SUV, has been on sale for about a year now and is starting to go through the same winnowing process that the Air sedan did. The company knows there is value in engineering two different architectures for the Gravity – 900-plus volts for the Grand Touring and 700 for the Touring trim – while staying away from too many options.

Rob Whitley, Lucid’s senior product manager for the Air and Gravity, told SAE Media in New York that the Air originally had over 20,000 buildable combinations and today has less than 2,000.

“Gravity has much more inherent optionality, because of the vehicle it is,” Whitley said. “Even a tow package adds a lot of combinations and builds that [the Air] would never have. [The Gravity has] over 120,000 buildable combinations so part of my task, through the years, will be to optimize what customers most want, and reduce that.”

That process starts with the 2027 model year, where Lucid will be making its top-view camera feature – previously a $1,500 option – standard to align with consumer preferences for more safety equipment. This adds a 360-surround view with 3D view at slow speeds and blind spot display on the driver information screen of what’s in the blind spot when the turn signal is activated.

“What we saw is that nearly every vehicle was ordered with that when they were custom built,” Whitley said. “And those that we built without that turned the slowest, so it’s clear that people wanted that.”

The Comfort and Convenience package – which offers things like a heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, and laminated acoustic glass – is also being made standard on the Grand Touring trim, since it was being ordered on most vehicles. A power package, which provides more USB charging throughout the vehicle, is also now standard. These changes are similar to when the Air got standardized Dream Drive Premium in its third model year, but that was a hardware upgrade as well as requiring new software, whereas the Gravity change was done solely through new software.

Lucid's growth – the company sold 15,841 vehicles in 2025, up 55% compared to 2024 – is also changing how it interacts with its customers. Since many of them previously owned Tesla EVs, which only come with one fob, Lucid did the same. As more buyers came over from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and other brands, a second key fob was expected, so Lucid now provides them without asking, as before, for $200 for the privilege.

The new Gravity SUV is also helping the Air sedan become a better vehicle, as well. “For 2026, the story is about more power in terms of charge power,” Whitley said. “With Air Pure, which is our entry model, we’ve actually taken the battery cells from Gravity and put those in our least expensive Air where the charging rate is now 250 kW.”

Nissan’s gas-powered 2027 Z NISMO made an appearance in New York with an all-too-rare manual transmission. (Sebastian Blanco)

The Air Pure can actually go higher than that, Whitley said, but Lucid is happy to claim 250 as a nice round number that also matches the Touring’s rate. The Air Pure can add 200 miles (322 km) of range in only 16 minutes. The Air Touring’s battery cell chemistry has been changed as well, to gain about 6% range, or 25 more miles (40 km) compared to the previous model. The Air Pure uses an 84 kWh pack while the Touring’s is 96 kWh. Miniaturization of many key hardware components saves a lot of weight, too, The Air Pure, with rear-wheel drive, weighs about 4,500 lbs (2,041 kg), which is less than ICE counterparts like the S-Class, Whitley said, and a lot less than other battery-powered competitors.

“What’s also amazing about the Pure is that it’s the most efficient EV sold today in America,” Whitley said. “For a car that big, to perform as it does, it’s more efficient than any lightweight two or four-seater compact vehicle. Because when you look at the EPA rating of 420 miles by 84 kWh, you get an efficiency of 5 miles per kWh. That’s something we’re extremely proud of.”

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