Take a Tour of the Los Angeles Auto Show

The Los Angeles Auto Show had a star-like quality on Wednesday (November 20), as the word's top automakers unveiled an eclectic group of designs and models during the the show's preview media days, ahead of its official kick-off this weekend.


The auto industry, which has showed better than modest signs of a recovery, will offer up more than 50 new models in Los Angeles, including nearly 2 dozen cars making their debuts.

Jaguar was among those, taking the wraps off its F-Type coupe, a hard top version of its highly praised roadster of the same name.

"It changed Jaguar quite a bit. Actually, it was all part of the plan. We wanted to change Jaguar," explained Ian Callum, design director at Jaguar, on the impact of the success of the F-Type.

"The thing is from my point of view is that it brings us back to where we belong. It's not about reinventing the company, it's about bringing us back. Jaguar is always known for being a sports car company and the E-Type was the center of that," said Callum.

Also on display were the effects of the consumers' growing love affair with "crossover" vehicles that combine the functionality and cachet of sport utility vehicles with the comfort and performance of a car.

Porsche is just the latest in the global automotive industry to pile on more crossovers as it showed off its fifth model, the Macam, at the Los Angeles Auto Show on Tuesday night (November 19).

Meanwhile, Ford, which has numerous sport utility and crossover models in its lineup, introduced a design concept of its Edge on Wednesday that hints at the look of future versions of that mid-sized crossover.

"It is a concept car that definitely hints at where we are going to take the next generation," said Raj Nair, head of global development at Ford. "I think it has a lot of design cues that work well on the current Edge."

General Motors is banking on American consumers' desire for something different from cars and crossover utility vehicles to drive demand for its Chevrolet Colorado, which debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show on Wednesday.

GM believes the new Colorado will be far more successful than its last appearance when U.S. sales peaked in 2005.

"This is a white space for us," said Mark Reuss, president of General Motors North America. "There is some risk, I love it because there is some risk. Because, I think there is some great reward and there is no one else that is going to copy us immediately. So, I am looking forward to it."

BMW was among those putting on display their line up electric cars. The luxury carmaker announced that it has orders for nearly 10,000 of its i3 electric cars, the first of which were delivered in Germany last week.

BMW also said that its i8 plug-in hybrid sports car due to be introduced in mid-2014 has sold out for its first year of availability.

"To people these look like concept cars, these look like show cars from 10-years from now," explained Paul Ferraiolo, BMW head of product planning and strategy. "They are not, the i3 and the i8 are production cars with a design and technology that a lot of people think is off in the future. But it is not, it is ready now."

The 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show opens on Friday (November 22) and runs through December 01