SHOTLIST:

1. Wide pan of showroom floor at 2007 International Auto Show

2. Mid of man lowering movie screen on the Suzuki Flix car

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Gene Brown, Vice President of Marketing, Suzuki:

"Well, the basic concept behind Flix is to take the key features of our all new midsize XL-7, our largest, most powerful and most luxurious vehicle we've ever offered, and sort of exaggerate them in a concept vehicle to help get the idea through. And the two key ideas of XL-7 that are accentuated here are very progressive styling of the vehicle, brought to life with a lot of theatre touches like theatre lighting in this vehicle and also our first ever in-vehicle entertainment system. And of course in this case we've taken the entertainment system to a greater extreme with the Flix and a big 50-inch high res (resolution) screen."

4. Tight of Flix sound system

5. Close up of Flix car movie screen

6. Close up of of Flix car projector

7. Pull out from GM logo to dancers dancing around vehicles

8. Medium of dancers dancing around GM vehicles

9. Cut away to close up of photographers

10. Wide pan from audience members throwing balls to stage, UPSOUND (English): "Vote now!"

11. SOUNDBITE (English) David Lyon, General Motors Executive Director of Design for Asia-Pacific:

"And we've done an exercise here in creating GM-Daewoo. It is the 'home room,' we call it, it is the centre for expertise for mini cars for General Motors, and we wanted to look at, and, well maybe if we made small cars, mini cars, more compelling that people would buy it for some other reason than price and fuel economy. They'll buy it because they love the car, because the image is right for them, it has the right mood and character, and they get an inexpensive car with great fuel economy kind of along for the ride.'"

12. Mid of the back of a Toyota Highlander

13. Close up pan of Toyota Highlander logo to logo, reads: "Hybrid Synergy Drive"

14. SOUNDBITE: (English) J.C. Chitwood, Senior Strategic Planner for Toyota Advanced Technologies :

"Well, we'll be introducing, as I said, the hybrid in more and more of our models, and we also believe that hybrid technology can be combined with different fuel sources so whether in the future that's bio diesel or ethanol or fuel cell, that the addition of the Hybrid technology increases the efficiency of whatever you put it with."

15. Pan of show room floor

16. Mid of women working on car engine

17. Wide of showroom floor

18. Wide of exterior of building where show being held

STORYLINE:

With flashy names, bold designs, technological advances and "eco-friendly" rides, the 1,000 cars and trucks at the New York Auto Show 2007 burst onto the scene on Wednesday.

And while fuel efficiency and 'green' cars seemed to be the theme of the day, the coolest thing on the floor was the ultra-extravagant "flix" from Suzuki.

Based on the Suzuki XL-7, the SUV has a clamshell roof that reveals a movie screen. Inside, a complete entertainment system and high-quality sound system completes the package.

Gene Brown, Vice President of Marketing, said Suzuki's 'concept' car is a special-order vehicle, with exaggerated features.

"The two key ideas of XL-7 that are accentuated here are very progressive styling of the vehicle brought to life with a lot of theatre touches like theatre lighting in this vehicle and also our first ever in-vehicle entertainment system. And of course in this case we've taken the entertainment system to a greater extreme with the Flix and a big 50-inch high res (resolution) screen," he said.

General Motors had an entirely different concept in mind with the launch of their triplets: three new models of mini, fuel efficient cars.

Hoping to boost its presence in the ultra-small car market, the company chose the Auto Show to unveil a trio of new Chevrolet mini car concept vehicles designed to grab the attention of young car buyers in urban markets around the world.

The cars, launched with a rock and roll beat and dancers, are called the Beat, a front-wheel drive three-door hatchback powered by a 1.2-litre turbo charged gasoline engine; the Groove, a retro looking front-wheel drive car with a 1-litre diesel engine; and the Trax an 'urban crossover' with an all-wheel-drive system and a 1-litre gas engine.

The cars are not yet in production.

In a novel, interactive move, consumers will have a say in which of those cars eventually hits dealer lots by voting for their favourite model on a GM Web site.

While the vote won't be the final determination on which car is produced, company officials will take it into account when making their decision, they said.

The cars are the first product of what GM is calling its minicar "homeroom," which is a collaboration between GM and Daewoo, as David Lyon, General Motors Executive Director of Design for Asia-Pacific, explained.

"It is the centre for expertise for mini cars for General Motors, and we wanted to look at, well maybe if we created small cars, mini cars, more compelling that people would buy it for some other reason than price and fuel economy. They'll buy it because they love the car, because the image is right for them, it has the right mood and character, and they get an inexpensive car with great fuel economy kind of along for the ride," he said.

GM hopes the vehicles also could give the world's largest automaker a bigger foothold in the growing mini car market, which is largely dominated by the Japanese automakers.

The triplets might sell for as low as 10 thousand US dollars.

GM also hopes the new vehicles will boost Chevrolet's presence as a global brand and plans to market them in urban markets around the world, where mini cars already enjoy greater popularity.

Toyota was also on the floor this year, the tenth anniversary of its hybrid.

"Well, we'll be introducing, as I said, the hybrid in more and more of our models," J.C. Chitwood, Senior Strategic Planner for Toyota Advanced Technologies, explained.

"We also believe that hybrid technology can be combined with different fuel sources so whether in the future that's biodiesel or ethanol or fuel cell, that the addition of the Hybrid technology increases the efficiency of whatever you put it with," she said.

The 2007 New York International Automobile Show opens to the public on Friday, April 6th and runs until April 15th at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.