You may notice that “new car smell” if you’re driving through downtown Buffalo this weekend. The 2016 Buffalo Auto Show is now underway at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, where more than 250 new vehicles are on display through Sunday. With national auto sales hitting an all-time high in 2015, the event is always a popular destination for car enthusiasts. Niagara Frontier Auto Dealers President Paul Stasiak says many of the cars include high-tech features.
“All of our manufacturers brought something unique, which is good. What’s amazing and what sticks out now is the technology that’s inside the car, not just the style outside. They’re moving computers, they’re moving computers labs. They have touch screens, they’ve got Wi-Fi, they got backup surround vision, so these cars are going to park themselves. Most of them do now,” Stasiak said.
Stasiak says the national increase in sales is primarily due to low interest rates.
“The economic indicators around that are precipitating that, I think all the manufacturers have created a very aggressive lease program, so it allows the consumer to get a car for a lot less money so I think that’s a combination that’s a win-win for everybody,” he added.
Niagara Frontier Auto Dealers Marketing Director Trey Barrett says Western New Yorkers have a unique passion for automobiles.
“Buffalo is certainly an automotive driven town, no pun intended. It’s not like Chicago, New York City where you can get anywhere you want to go on the subway, or cab, or whatever else. So, we drive, essentially. We’re very automotively motivated,” said Barrett.
Barrett says Buffalo is a big contributor to the automotive industry with its many manufacturing plants
The Auto Show will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. A group of Buffalo Bills linebackers, known as the Bermuda Triangle, will be available for autographs Sunday afternoon.