The New York International Auto Show touched down at the Javits Center in New York City, April 3-12, reminding attendees arriving at the entrance to the 126-year-old show’s exhibit halls that it’s “Not just a show. A tradition.”
Show organizers reported that attendance opening weekend was up more than 25 percent, year-over-year, its highest since the show’s post-pandemic reopening in 2022. And while exhibit experiences felt mostly traditional, there were plenty of gems and trends to uncover that could apply to your next industry event or trade show. Come with us for a spin around the show floor.
Topographical Accents
Large-scale graphical accents like topographical maps, could be found throughout NYIAS 2026, especially when highlighting adventure vehicles. In Hyundai’s sprawling booth, which encompassed exploration, home, and its mobility and robotics innovations business, a back wall depicting elevations helped draw the eye in to the 2026 Palisade XRT Pro, a rugged, off-road vehicle.
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
Chevy immersed attendees in the classic American road trip with an equally classic 1958 Chevy Impala on display behind road trip imagery and a graphical map of routes across the states. (Side note: The brand, by far, had the best collection of new and aspirational vehicles on the floor that attendees couldn’t wait to climb into—what an auto show should be all about.)
To bring it all home, literally, the brand offered a photo activation for a magnet featuring you against a road trip backdrop with your dream Chevy vehicle in the background as your “ride.”
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
Kia showed off a new Kia Seltos adventure prototype with a kayak strapped the roof, bikes on the back, and adventure scenery on a translucent screen behind it. Graphical wrapping that juxtaposed a city skyline against mountainous topographical lines completed the messaging. This particular treatment helped the display vehicle pop inside the otherwise super sleek, black-framed exhibit.
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
Discoveries
Starting with us stumbling upon a baseball diamond and home base (a carpet pattern that spotlighted the brand’s multiyear partnership with the MLB) in the Ford booth, many of the vehicle specs and touchpoints were intended to be discovered and explored rather than told or displayed on signage. For Ford Bronco, attendees could hop up on a mixed reality vista installation and explore a map through viewfinder binoculars. When pointing the viewfinder at any spot on the map, a mini video would appear, displaying vehicle specs and clips of the vehicle in that environment.
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
Over in the Genesis booth, the brand had its robotic dog, developed with Boston Dynamics, roving the car displays and interacting with attendees. A professional photographer snapped attendees’ photos with it and sent the Genesis-branded image via text.
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
Main Stage Personalities
Toyota kept it monochromatic with its signature red color everywhere, from the sprawling red carpet to the red walls and architecture hanging overhead. The bright, red-branded interactive main platform took center stage, as it did last year. The brand hosted its signature trivia and presentations on the hour that got onlookers involved and even guest-presenting.
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
Over at Nissan, participating in live trivia earned attendees one notch on a scavenger hunt they needed to complete to earn a premium. Other prizes up for grabs included Lego kits.
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
Big Messages
Overall, just as big as the brand names and logos overhead were bold taglines and marketing copy. In the case of Subaru, it was inspirational messaging, from the brand’s signature “Powered by Love” and “More Than a Car Company” taglines to the elegantly powerful “Get through anything” line of copy at the end of the exhibit’s traditional cinematic sequence.
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
In the Ford booth, it was the commanding “Ready set” copy that caught the eye first.
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
‘Worth-it’ Activations
From a claw machine in Toyota’s booth dishing out puppies wearing Toyota-branded scarves and squishy sedans and trucks (and no data collect attached to it), to a Sasquatch photo activation for Ford Bronco, there were plenty of “fun” engagements designed for the families that came to NYIAS 2026.
A standout was Volkswagen’s building station, where each child received a wooden kit with an Allen wrench, screw, chassis and vehicle body, that had kids busy assembling and decorating them with markers before racing each other down a wooden track.
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
Hyundai celebrated its FIFA World Cup 2026 sponsorship with a goal-tracking kick contest that served up mini soccer balls as a premium (again with no data-collection attached, making it easy for parents to step back for a moment). Goals.
(Photo: Rachel Boucher/Event Marketer)
