[asphaltgambler]

Interesting question. Going out on a limb with my answer = no. I strongly suspect it's all the new materials and the odor they give off in a closed environment. I do agree with your senses but I'm not sure I could differentiate between say GM or a Ford product.

Being familiar with auto manufacturing, I could not imagine they would spend 1/2 cent additional per car to add a fragrance. I remember some time ago, JC Whitney sold "That New Car Smell" in a bottle.

Or possibly those of us that have spent a good part of our life in the auto service industry knows that most used cars smell like like farts, mountain dew, old McDonald's food scraps with a touch of cigarette smoke