Los Angeles Auto Show – THE RECAP!

Los Angeles Auto Show 

THE RECAP!

Looking good!  Not great, but good – and is hopefully getting better…

The Los Angeles Auto Show, aka AutoMobility LA – The Future In Motion, ended Sunday, November 30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles. 

A walk on the floor reveals Kia, Hyundai, Ford , Subaru and Toyota taking this show seriously with massive, beautiful and well-considered displays.  Occupying a supporting role at the show are Stellantis, Chevrolet and Honda.  Also on display (but with much smaller displays) were Rivian, Lucid, Volvo, VW, Lincoln and Nissan.  Local dealers supported the Honda and Porsche displays; the Porsche initiative was quite impressive for a dealer effort.

All the news at the very-well attended KIA  announcement (see photo of the crowd!) is their updated version of the Telluride, and what an update it is!  Available in nine trim levels (including the newly announced Hybrid), all come with significant driver and passenger enhancements, and include two charging pads and almost innumerable cupholders.  Really impressive this new one is.  The Telluride has been a massive hit for KIA, as evidenced by the increasing sales numbers every year since its introduction in 2019.  KIA had a very large display area showcasing all the iterations of the various models.  Very well done! 

Hyundai also produced a press event in their massive display to showcase a concept vehicle, the Crater off-road vehicle.  We will see what comes down the pike from this concept in the next year or so…their large display in the South Hall includes an indoor test course and racecar driving simulators. 

Ford occupied the biggest footprint with a massive display of all their vehicles and an indoor test track with display area featuring the Bronco.  At least 20 huge LED screens and supplementing displays showed their commitment to this show.  At the entrance was the Mustang GTD, which if you haven’t heard is a (barely) sub $300,000 version (yes, you read that correctly!) of their ubiquitous ponycar….this model is certainly more Stallion than Pony.  For us mere mortals the RTR was featured alongside the GTD. 

Super-impressive was the Subaru display….I cannot imagine the cost and complexity of loading this in and setting it up!  Huge (albeit artificial) trees, forest floor carpet and a Ranger Station made you feel as if you were in the mountains of a National Park….complete with conversation fire pit and Ranger cabin – made for a really cool place to hang out! 

Toyota rivaled Ford in display space, but was not quite as impressive….the usual Toyota white wall with graphics, not so many LED screens but a nice clean red and white display area with lots of (greatly appreciated) seating/rest areas for those of us with tired feet. No real new-product news from Toyota at this show.  

Having taken everything in, I was impressed. The Auto Show business has declined significantly since the glory days of the 90’s and early 2000’s, but this show was very, very good.  I hope the manufacturers once again realize that the auto shows are a valuable marketing tool and recognize that (if things haven’t changed) that upwards of 35-40% of show attendees are actually in the market to purchase a new vehicle in the next 6-12 months!  It looks like KIA, Hyundai, Ford, Toyota and Subaru get the message….and am hoping the other follow suit!