This year’s show is no different, and judging by its debuts, 2013 is going to be a diverse year for the re-emerging U.S. automotive industry -- full of electrification, diesel and even some high-performance pleasures.
DETROIT, MI- The LA Auto Show is known for setting the bar for the “auto show season” and upcoming year.
This year’s show is no different, and judging by its debuts, 2013 is going to be a diverse year for the re-emerging U.S. automotive industry – full of electrification, diesel and even some high-performance pleasures.
“It’s a good mixture,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insights for California-based TrueCar.com. “I think maybe the last several years because we were emerging from recession, the higher-end luxury automakers maybe didn’t feel right to brag or make a lot of noise for $200,000 cars.”
The 2012 LA Auto Show, unlike in the past, is a full mix of not just green vehicles, but the entire diversification of the alternative powertrain industry, officials said.
Overall, about 50 vehicles will be unveiled at this year’s show. The LA Auto Show is open to the public from Nov. 30 through Dec. 19. About 50 vehicles, including at least 17 worldwide unveilings, are expected to debut during the show’s press preview days from Nov. 28-29.
There will be at least a dozen clean-diesel vehicles and nearly 20 vehicles achieving 40-plus mpg with highly advanced four-cylinder gasoline engines, and two dozen all-electric or plug-in electric models at the show.
“It’s been interesting to watch the industry as a whole move in this direction that LA was really way ahead of, 10 years ago, in terms of everything that was debuted had this green slant,” said Karl Brauer, editor in chief and CEO of Total Car Score. “It’s more green than ever and there’s still some really cool performance peppered in there.”
Some of the highly-anticipated performance vehicles include the 2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series and 2014 Nissan GT-R.
Larry Dominique, president of ALG and TrueCar executive vice president of industry, said this year’s show is another step in showing how important California has become for automakers.
“What I see is a continuing evolution that LA is just growing in importance from a motor show point of view,” he told MLive Autos.“The big thing for me is the growing stature of the LA show itself – the number of debuts seems to be increasing, the importance of those debuts seems to be increasing.”
This year’s show is particularly important to Fiat SpA and Chrysler Group LLC. The two automakers combined are expected to unveil at least seven world or North American debuts, including three Fiat models.
California is the Fiat brand’s number one market in the country. The state represented 21.9 percent of Fiat brand sales in 2011 (March-December), and represents 23.2 percent this year through the end of October.
Fiat is expected to unveil its all-electric Fiat 500e at the show, as well as its larger 500L and another unannounced vehicle.
Each automaker, such as Fiat/Chrysler, appear to have some sort of green vehicle, as well as a secondary, more traditional powertrain being featured at the show.
Other vehicle unveilings include reveals from Ford and General Motors, as well as European automakers such as BMW, Fiat, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen. The show will also include global unveilings of new designs from Asian brands, including models from Acura, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota.
"I think this year for the first time we have a good mixture of everything," Toprak said.
Continue to check back to MLive Autos for continuing coverage of the LA Auto Show, including all the best unveilings from Los Angeles during press preview days and the 2013 "Green Car of the Year." Follow all of the news here.
Email Michael Wayland: MWayland@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/MikeWayland