Round-up: LA Auto Show 2022

The Los Angeles Auto Show is open to the public this week, with plenty to show and quite a few playgrounds for kids of all ages. Much ink has been spilled over the demise of the motor show in general, with Geneva canceled three times, and Paris, Frankfurt/Munich and Detroit all being disappointments. But this being Los Angeles, the capital of entertainment, plenty was on offer. Let’s take a quick tour of this year’s show.

In the West Hall – long the stronghold of American carmakers – trucks rule supreme. Indeed, with indoor tracks, complete with climbing “hills”, towing sleds and steel gantries measuring feats of strength. Surrounding static displays of huge trucks were pickups and SUVs circulating continuously on these tracks, climbing hills, and pulling weights.

At the Dodge stand, in the midst of all the truck action, sat, in brilliant red, the Charger Daytona SRT electric concept. Perhaps the most beautiful car at the show, it maintains the classic ‘fuselage’ styling of the original, with new tweaks for an electric generation. The car has gained notoriety for the piped-in full-throated internal combustion roar, although that was not demonstrated during our visit.

Fiat, another of the Stellantis brands, introduced the 500e, an electric version of the 500. It is even cuter than the original, and available in numerous designer guises. Still, it is hard to imagine that this car will make it in America, and to underscore the point, the little cars were placed between Ram trucks and Jeep Wagoneers and Wranglers, a cruel irony that was not missed by those at the Press preview.

At the nearby Ford stand, again it was a rodeo of trucks with corrals of new Broncos and a test track for pickups including the Lightning, which has proven so popular that Ford has closed reservations for the launch version. The new generation Mustang sat quietly nearby, looking good in its mildly refreshed form, but still trapped in its Mustang narrative. The Mach-E, sitting beyond, is the future, but perhaps not as exciting to the Pony purists, even if it is very fast and very nimble.

Over in the South Hall, the hegemony of the truck was less pronounced. Just inside the main entrance to the Hall was the darling of the show, the new Toyota Prius. The 5th generation, coming in 2023, will be a simpler, sleeker design with impeccable proportions. Introduced the previous night in Japan, it was not known until the morning of the show that it would have a North American debut. But no need to worry. California is the largest market for the Prius in the States, so there was no way Toyota would have missed this opportunity

Over at the Genesis stand, the X Convertible concept was introduced, the latest in a series of laudable concepts from Genesis that exude a California cool with wonderful surfacing and graphics.

Nearby, at the Hyundai stand, three cars garnered nearly all the attention. The angular Ioniq 5, a winner at the 2021 Car Design Review awards; the curvaceous Ioniq 6 sedan, and the magnificent N Vision 74 concept car, which, for sheer badassery, was matched only by the Dodge e-Charger described above. Elsewhere, Porsche revealed the new 911 Dakar, a sports car that is described as being just as comfortable off-road as it is on a track.

Finally, at the Car Design News Designer Night, Lucid introduced its Air Pure, a more affordable Air model, and the Air Sapphire, an ultra-luxe, ultra-fast version of the Air sedan, with a top speed of 200mph and a 0-100mph time of three seconds. With a bespoke sapphire colorway, it is a masterful combination of luxury and speed.

In general, there seems to be a trend toward simpler graphics, massing, and surfacing in the concepts and future production models shown at the LA Auto Show. These match some other concepts we have seen this year, like the two Lincolns, the Star and the Model L100 (both, sadly, absent from the show). Whether this is an overall industry trend remains to be seen in 2023.

But all this underscores an often-overlooked fact. There are two motor shows at these events: the Press Day(s) and the Public Days. The Press gets sneak previews, concepts, refreshments, gifts and bespoke and expensive displays, all of which will be gone when the doors open for the public. The OEMs spend an exorbitant amount of money on the Press days to get positive coverage and to tease the public into coming to the show.

The public sees most of the same cars, and some toned-down displays and facilities. They must purchase their own refreshments at extortionary prices. But more entertainment is on hand to keep young and old happy during a long day of imaginary car shopping. At this year’s show there are interior tracks for test rides, climbing hills for trucks, sports playgrounds (Toyota), puppy petting pens (Subaru), and, well, cars, to keep everyone delighted.

The monetary calculus of the Press/Public Days is complex and, in the US, relies heavily on the network of local and regional dealers for support. In the last few years, however, the accountants at the corporate level have taken a red pencil to the budgets of these automotive bacchanalias and have devised more curated and efficient forms of product introduction.

The result is that motor shows as we have known them will probably fade away, and what remains will be tilted much more towards the public and less towards the media. Some motor shows will disappear completely, while others may survive and even thrive in the new era. Los Angeles, in a region known for its entertainment industry and robust car culture, will be one of the thrivers.