Detroit may be where cars are made, but New York is becoming the town to show them off.

Just look around at the New York International Auto Show. Honda chose the Big Apple to surprise the motoring press and car buffs with a sneak reveal of the all-new Civic, one of the Japanese company's most important models.

While General Motors could have shown off its bread-and-butter Chevrolet Malibu and its most expensive Cadillac sedan in Detroit in January, executives instead chose New York.

That’s in part because Detroit is where industry insiders gather, but New York is home to more affluent shoppers and influential television personalities.

"New York is a fantastic consumer show and a ton of the media is already here," said Scott Keogh, Audi's head of US sales.

“I see New York getting stronger and stronger and it seems to be taking on a new position in the luxury corner of the market.”

Lexus kicked off the day with its new RX crossover SUV, the luxury brand's top-selling vehicle. The night before Cadillac revealed its new flagship and Ford Motor's Lincoln division showed off an all-new Continental.

Jaguar Land Rover had the same logic. While the Indian- owned brands didn't reveal anything new in Detroit in January, they showed off the new XF sports car with Mad Men star Christina Hendricks to help make a splash.

"It's absolutely important for us as a luxury brand to come and showcase here." Fiona Pargeter, head of global communications at Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc, said at show.

“New York is a really very important show for us, and the last couple of years we have supported the show with global debuts.”

The show kicked off as figures highlighted that new US car sales for many manufacturers either marginally declined or rose only slightly in March because of a combination of harsh weather, tough comparisons with last year and a 3 per cent increase in average prices.

Profits in the US have become critical to many carmakers after other important markets worldwide – including Europe, Russia and South America – suffered downturns.

Luxury vehicles and sports-utility vehicles – which will both feature strongly at the annual New York show – are disproportionately profitable for carmakers. GM and Ford, the US’s two biggest carmakers by sales, want to improve profitability, in part by moving upmarket.

Michelle Krebs, an analyst at autotrader.com, a car information site, said the sales were still strong by historical standards. The slowdown partly reflected last March's rebound in sales after severe weather in January and February and bad weather in many places this March.