New York Auto Show 2017: Photos of the hottest cars and futuristic concept vehicles

Ushering in the latest automotive trends, the 2017 New York International Auto Show showcased an incredible collection of cutting-edge design and extraordinary innovation. With over four floors of displays from the world's most prestigious automakers, the event featured the newest vehicles and latest futuristic concept cars, with nearly 1,000 cars and trucks on display.

Ford unveiled an all-new Navigator, a cushy seven or eight seat utility vehicle with an aluminium body as it attempts to win back buyers of the big SUVs. By revamping the Navigator truck-based SUV, the vehicle to compete with the Cadillac Escalade and other big GM people haulers. Last year, Ford showed off a silver-blue metallic Navigator concept vehicle in New York but the production version won't have the concept's expensive and heavy gull-wing doors or the nautical equipment stored in the back cargo area.

The new Navigator has soft yet supportive leather seats and enough space to hold adults comfortably in all three rows, company designers say. The second and third rows fold flat with the touch of a button to haul cargo. The SUV also has a 20-speaker sound system and comes with a 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine that puts out 450 horsepower.

Honda began leasing the 2017 Clarity fuel cell sedan earlier this year; about 100 are already on the road. At this week's New York Auto Show, the company also introduced electric and plug-in hybrid versions of the Clarity. The plug-in hybrid can go 42 miles in electric mode before a small gas engine kicks in, Honda says. The all-electric Clarity can go 111 miles on a charge. Both will go on sale later this year.

"We think going forward the powertrain market is going to be very diverse," Steve Center, vice president of the environmental business development office at American Honda, told the Associated Press. Fuel cell cars create electricity to power the battery and motor by mixing hydrogen and oxygen in the specially treated plates that combine to form the fuel cell stack.

Honda's 306-horsepower compact Civic Type R also made it's US debut, while Mercedes rolled out two new AMG high-performance vehicles, including the AMG GLC63 Coupe with a 469-horsepower 4-Liter V-8 twin turbo engine. Both can go zero-to-60 in under four seconds. Porsche's 911 GT3 will make its North American debut with total output of 500 horsepower.

Horsepower has risen so high that some experts are proclaiming a new "golden age of muscle cars" that far outpace the first generation from the 1960s. "Horsepower is actually creeping up on every single car across the board," says Tim Kuniskis, head of FCA's Street and Racing Technology unit, who on Tuesday introduced the Demon – along with "The Fast and the Furious" actor Vin Diesel. "A lot of it is due to the fact that we have the technology that allows you to have the power now and not have any downside" such as poor handling or reliability problems.