2023 Chicago Auto Show
Chicago played host to the first major American auto show of the year, and there were plenty of shiny new cars, trucks and SUVs on display. This annual event appears to have fully recovered after show organizers had to scale things back in the last few years due to the ongoing pandemic. Some of the highlights at this year’s show included the debut of the all-new 2024 Subaru Crosstrek, 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander and refreshed 2024 Volkswagen Atlas. Here’s a look at these plus other highlights from the 2023 Chicago Auto Show.

2024 Toyota Grand Highlander
Toyota took the wraps off its all-new Grand Highlander — a larger version of its popular crossover. Longer, wider and taller than the standard Highlander, the Grand Highlander delivers improved third-row comfort as well as additional cargo space. The 2024 Grand Highlander is easily distinguishable from the standard model with a more traditional SUV style and a new trapezoidal hammerhead front grille. The Grand Highlander gets a fresh interior centered around a new 12.3-inch multimedia display. Multiple USB-C ports — including one on the passenger side of the dashboard — and a wireless charger keep devices powered. The large center console has space for a tablet as well as three cupholders, including one that can handle a large water bottle.

2024 Toyota Grand Highlander
Toyota will offer the new Grand Highlander with a choice of three powertrains: a 2.4-liter turbocharged engine, a 2.5-liter hybrid, and a powerful Hybrid MAX system that delivers 362 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque. The first two options are currently available in the standard Highlander, generating 265 horsepower and 243 horsepower, respectively, in the current model. Each can be had in front- or all-wheel-drive variants, while the Hybrid MAX comes exclusively with AWD. The 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander will be offered in three trim levels: XLE, Limited and Platinum. Production will take place at Toyota’s manufacturing facility in Princeton, Indiana, with pricing and an on-sale date expected to be announced later this summer.

2024 Subaru Crosstrek
Subaru introduced the Impreza-based Crosstrek 12 years ago, and after recently completing a year of record sales this small crossover is now the most popular model in the company’s lineup. Never one to rest on its laurels, the Japan-based automaker premiered the third-generation 2024 Subaru Crosstrek at the 2023 Chicago Auto Show. The updated model gets fresh exterior styling, new high-tech features and a stiffer chassis, all in the effort to help Crosstrek maintain its popularity. For the 2024 model year, the Crosstrek gets more adventurous styling with a new frameless hexagonal grille flanked by sleek headlights that sweep back into the bodywork, highlighted by a sculpted hood.

2024 Subaru Crosstrek
Subaru equips the new Crosstrek with updated front seats designed to increase comfort while reducing fatigue on longer trips. The cabin is quieter, which adds to overall occupant comfort. Subaru will offer a larger 11.6-inch vertical display for the first time in the Crosstrek. This option includes wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay with full-screen display, and can be equipped with GPS navigation powered by TomTom. The 2024 Subaru Crosstrek is built on the latest rendition of the Subaru Global Platform, which is enhanced to provide 10 percent higher torsional rigidity. This new Crosstrek will be the first built in America, with the Sport and Limited trims assembled at Subaru’s production facility in Lafayette, Indiana.

2024 Volkswagen Atlas
Volkswagen took the wraps off updated versions of both the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport at the 2023 Chicago Auto Show. While the underpinnings of both models remain unchanged from the previous year, the two Atlas variants get new front-end designs that better differentiates the Atlas from the Atlas Cross Sport. Both get new LED headlights and daytime running lights that wrap around the headlights and connect via a light bar that spans the grille above a lit VW logo. The rear end gets similar treatment with the light bar and lighted logo, although these are in red. All Atlas trim levels get new wheels as well.

2024 Volkswagen Atlas
Powering both models is a new 2.0-liter turbocharged engine producing 269 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. VW expects the new engine to not only provide better performance but also deliver improved fuel economy. The cabin of the Atlas gets a major update with more premium materials, available ambient lighting and an available 12-inch floating infotainment display. The 10.25-inch fully configurable driver display is standard on all trim levels. Look for the 2024 Atlas to arrive in showrooms later this year.

2024 Dodge Hornet GLH
All new to the Dodge lineup, the Hornet compact crossover is offered in two versions: Hornet R/T and Hornet GT. The top-of-the-line Hornet R/T is a plug-in hybrid — the first electrified performance vehicle from the Detroit-based brand — and the Hornet GT boasts a powerful turbocharged 2.0-liter inline 4-cylinder engine as well as a starting price less than $30,000. Adding a bit of excitement to this new model, Dodge also showed the Hornet GLH concept at the 2023 Chicago Auto Show. This concept adopts the name from the high-performance Dodge Omni GLH (Goes Like Hell) produced in the 1980s.

2024 Dodge Hornet GLH
Hornet GT GLH is equipped with a stage kit that offers stackable performance upgrades for Hornet GT including a suspension lowering kit that drops the Hornet more than an inch, unrestricted dual exhaust with black chrome tips, exclusive Direct Connection GLH 20-inch painted and machine-faced wheels, Direct Connection GLH graphics, as well as black-painted lower trim and rear fascia with exhaust cutouts.

Ram 1500 Revolution BEV Concept
A growing number of electric pickup trucks are appearing in the U.S. market, and it was only a matter of time before Ram joined the fray. Providing a glimpse at the brand’s upcoming electric truck is the Ram 1500 Revolution BEV Concept. The concept is unlike anything Ram has sold before; however, familiar styling cues make this future truck easily identifiable. Up front, the RAM lettering is big and bright, flanked by a new fully animated LED “tuning fork” design. An integrated skidplate plays to the truck’s expected tough demeanor, while tow hooks remain hidden until needed. At the rear of the Ram 1500 Revolution BEV Concept, stylish LED taillights frame the tailgate, flowing out from a bright red RAM emblem positioned at the center of the gate.

Ram 1500 Revolution BEV Concept
Like Ford’s F-150 Lightning, the Ram 1500 Revolution BEV Concept offers considerable storage space under the hood where an internal-combustion engine would normally reside. The power frunk (front trunk) has one-touch open and close functionality and features a pass-through from the passenger cabin. Adding to the truck’s versatility is a power-operated midgate that opens at the rear of the cab and extends the truck bed into the cabin. Employing a new EV platform and smaller, more powerful electric motors, the Ram 1500 Revolution’s design team was able to shift the cabin forward to increase interior space. The concept’s cabin is 4 inches longer than the current Ram 1500 pickup. Ram also announced that its electric pickup will go on sale next year and be called the Ram 1500 REV. We expect to get a first look at the production version this summer.

2024 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 20th Anniversary
The Jeep Wrangler is one of the most capable off-road SUVs on the market, and since it was introduced 20 years ago the Wrangler Rubicon has led the off-road charge. Now more than one quarter of Wrangler’s worldwide sales are Rubicons. To celebrate this milestone Jeep is offering a limited run of 2023 Wrangler Rubicon 20th Anniversary editions, available on the Rubicon 392 and Rubicon 4xe plug-in hybrid.

2024 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 20th Anniversary
The 20th Anniversary Rubicon Wranglers stand out with a unique take on Jeep’s 7-slot grille, 20th Anniversary badging, 11.2 inches of ground clearance, 32 inches of water fording, steel bumpers, a gorilla glass windshield and 17-inch beadlock-capable wheels fitted with 33-inch all-terrain tires Inside are special black and red leather seats, a leather-wrapped instrument panel, and an 83-piece tool kit. Production is scheduled to begin shortly with deliveries beginning in the second quarter of this year. The Wrangler Rubicon 20th Anniversary 4xe retails for $69,585, while the V8-powered 392 is priced at $90,895.

2023 Dodge Challenger Black Ghost
The current Dodge Charger and Challenger models are coming to an end with the 2023 model year, so Dodge is commemorating the outgoing vehicles with seven special editions. The sixth in the series is the Dodge Challenger Black Ghost commemorating the original Black Ghost — a black 1970 Dodge Challenger RT owned by Godfrey Qualls. The modern rendition features a black and chrome appearance with a unique gator skin vinyl roof graphic. The 2023 Black Ghost is based on the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye.

2023 Dodge Challenger Black Ghost
Under the hood of the Black Ghost lurks a supercharged HEMI V8 generating a massive 807 horsepower. Limited to just 300 copies, the Black Ghost also gets a 6-piston Brembo brake system with black calipers, black Mopar hood pins, 20-inch Satin Carbon Warp Speed wheels, a bright fuel-filler door, a Midnight Metallic SRT grille badge and Alcantara and Laguna leather seats and door bolsters.

Buick Wildcat Concept
One of the coolest looking vehicles at the 2023 Chicago Auto Show was hiding in a back corner in the Buick stand. This Buick Wildcat EV Concept introduces an all-new design language for the brand, with the expectation that we will see these styling cues on future Buick models. “The Wildcat EV concept represents the real design future for the brand,” said Executive Director of Global Buick and GMC Design Sharon Gauci,. “Buick has always been forward looking and this expression is a glimpse of where we’re going, and the optimism we have for the limitless possibilities of an electric future,” Gauci observed.

Buick Wildcat Concept
This 4-seat coupe features a low, wide stance with a windshield that wraps around the cockpit and flows into the side glass. Inside, the Wildcat has a futuristic look with cockpit-style seats, cantilevered head restraints and a lightweight flat-bottom steering wheel. A digital driver display nicely integrates into the dashboard. “We are on the cusp of true change, and this concept is a tangible vision of it,” said Gauci. “It inaugurates the next chapter in Buick’s design heritage, as we make the crucial transition to our all-electric future.”

2024 Hyundai IONIQ6
About a year ago Hyundai came to market with the IONIQ 5, a compact crossover and the first vehicle built on Hyundai’s new Electric-Global Modular Platform. Now the automaker continues its journey toward full electrification with the introduction of the Hyundai IONIQ 6. One of the most aerodynamic Hyundai models ever built, the IONIQ 6 is referred to as an Electrified Streamliner. The sleek styling not only provides better efficiency, it also projects a unique look among premium sedans. Inside, the clean design features dual 12-inch screens that integrate seamlessly — one being the touchscreen infotainment system, and the other creating an innovative customizable driver display.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ6
The IONIQ 6 will be offered with two- or four-wheel drive as well as short- and long-range battery options. The top-level dual-motor all-wheel-drive IONIQ 6 generates 320 horsepower and 446 lb-ft of torque, which should provide robust performance. According to Hyundai, the IONIQ 6 should be able to travel about 340 miles on a single charge, and with support for both 400V and 800V charging, the IONIQ 6 can charge from 10 to 80 percent in less than 20 minutes on a 350 kW charger. The new IONIQ 6 is slated to go on sale this spring.

2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray
To mark the 70th anniversary of Corvette, Chevrolet introduced the Corvette E-Ray — its first-ever electrified Corvette, featuring all-wheel drive, an electric motor and a powerful 6.2-liter LT2 small-block V8 engine. “In 1953, the enthusiastic reaction to the Chevrolet Corvette concept kicked off seven decades of passion, performance and American ingenuity,” said Mark Reuss, General Motors president. “E-Ray, as the first electrified, all-wheel-drive Corvette, takes it a step further and expands the promise of what Corvette can deliver,” Reuss noted. According to Chevrolet, the Corvette E-Ray will accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and complete the quarter mile in 10.5 seconds, making it the quickest production Corvette ever.

2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray
The Corvette E-Ray’s impressive performance comes from a V8 engine producing 495 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque delivered to the rear axle, along with an electric motor that adds 160 horsepower and 125 lb-ft of torque delivered to the front axle for a total system output of 655 horsepower. The E-Ray stores electricity in a 1.9 kWh battery pack located between the front seats, which gets recharged during coasting, braking and normal driving. During spirited driving and in low traction conditions, power is applied to the front wheels to improve vehicle stability. Stealth mode allows electric-only operation up to 45 mph.

2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Last fall Ford revealed the latest-generation Mustang sporting a new turbocharged 2.3-liter EcoBoost engine, as well as a Mustang GT with a new version of the 5.0-liter Coyote V8 engine (expected to produce 480 horsepower). But the big surprise was an all-new performance version called Ford Mustang Dark Horse. The first new performance Mustang series added since the 2001 premiere of the Mustang Bullitt, the Ford Mustang Dark Horse will also include a track-only Dark Horse S and a Dark Horse R as two of six new racing Mustangs. Based on the all-new 2024 Mustang, the Dark Horse will be powered by a 5.0-liter Coyote V8 engine targeting 500 horsepower. With an available handling package, the Dark Horse will be the most track-capable 5.0-liter V8 street-legal Mustang ever.

2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
The most powerful 5.0-liter Coyote V8 engine to date features modified piston connecting rods first used on the 760-horsepower Ford Performance Mustang Shelby GT500, as well as a dual throttle-body intake design. The Coyote V8 gets mated to a 6-speed TREMEC manual transmission with a 3D-printed titanium shift knob and a Torsen limited-slip differential. Ford’s 10-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters is optional. In addition, Dark Horse adds brake cooling ducts, an auxiliary oil cooler, a transmission oil cooler, a rear axle cooler, as well as a lighter radiator with improved cooling capability and more powerful cooling fans.

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