2008 New York Auto Show

The capstone of auto show season came early this year. The 2008 New York Auto Show opened its doors to the press on March 19. The public gets its turn March 21st through the 30th. With the economy on the slide, automakers pulled out all the stops at New York's show--the last big chance of the year to grab headlines and motivate new-car shoppers for the spring selling season.

While the drama and hubbub of the 2008 New York Auto Show can't quite compare to a week in the New York governor's office, the show wasn't without some excitement of its own. Flashy concept introductions from Mitsubishi, Saab, and Scion took a bite out of the Big Apple's auto show this year. Also making news are redesigns of several cars, including a new Honda Fit, refreshed Acura TSX, and seventh-generation Nissan Sentra.

Mainstream people-movers weren't the only ones in the spotlight. The premium brands pulled out some familiar letters at this year's show. AMG and M both spell high performance for Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Mercedes-Benz raised the curtain on the 2009 SL63 AMG and BMW followed with the 2008 M3 convertible.

How else do you spell fast? Dodge and Pontiac prefer R/T and GXP. The two domestic makers pulled the covers off of the 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T and 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP.

Check out what else was unveiled at the 2008 New York Auto Show.

Acura 2009 Acura TSX	BMW 2008 BMW M3 convertible
Buick Buick Invicta Concept	Dodge 2009 Dodge Challenger
Honda 2009 Honda Fit	Hyundai 2010 Hyundai Genesis coupe
Kia Kia Koup Concept 2009 Kia Optima	Lamborghini 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4
Mercedes-Benz 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG	Mini 2009 John Cooper Works models
Mitsubishi Mitsubishi i Mitsubishi i MiEV Mitsubishi Concept-cX	Nissan 2009 Nissan Maxima
Pontiac 2009 Pontiac Solstice coupe 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck	Porsche 2008 Porsche 911 GT2 2008 Porsche Boxster RS 60 Spyder
Saab Saab 9-X BioHybrid Concept	Scion Scion Hako Coupe Concept
Saleen Saleen S5S Raptor Concept	Subaru Subaru R1e
Suzuki Suzuki Kizashi 3 Concept	Volvo 2009 Volvo XC60