The LA Auto show is back after a one-year hiatus, and there are many new cars on the table. From crazy concepts like the Hyundai Seven concept to the new sleek Porsche Taycan GTS. There are many new cars, many of which will be available to purchase in North America as early as January 2022.
The fourth quarter of the year is always a tad quiet for car sales. However, for new car launches, it is very busy in preparation for the first and second quarter of the new year. The key focus at the LA auto show this year was electric vehicles with many car companies launching their first-ever electric vehicles.
What are my favorite cars then? What are my thoughts? Let’s find out.
picture via: newsweek.com
A Wave of New SUVs.
It’s no surprise that a load of new SUVs has been released at this year’s Los Angeles Autoshow. SUVs are the best selling type of vehicle right now, hence why there are just so many at the show this year and most of them are electric.
The first SUV that caught my attention, is the new Toyota bZ4X. A very strange name indeed, but believe it or not it is Toyota’s first-ever electric car. This is the same brand that created one of the first-ever mass-produced hybrid cars back in the late 1990s. Yet, it has taken them years to make their very first electric car, and of course, it is an SUV. The bZ4X looks like a RAV4, and it is very much based on the best-selling RAV4. It’s offered in either front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive with the most efficient model putting out a healthy 250 miles on a single charge.
The second SUVs are the VinFast VF e35 and the VF e36. Now, you will be excused for now knowing who VinFast is since the brand was only formed in 2017. They’re a Vietnamese brand and it is the first-ever Vietnamese car brand to expand into the global markets. They currently have a few cars on sale today including a sedan which is based on the F10 BMW 5-Series and an SUV based on the BMW F15 X5. The VF e35 and the VF e36 are both styled by Pininfarina, and they do look very sexy indeed. The e35 is a Model Y rival whilst the e36 is a Model X rival.
The third SUV is the all-new Subaru Soleterra, which is Subaru’s first-ever electric car. The Soleterra was co-developed with Toyota so it is a relative of the bZ4X SUV. The Soleterra comes with Subaru’s brilliant symmetrical all-wheel-drive system which includes two electric motors. On a single charge, the Soleterra will offer a range of over 220 miles. It’s a cool-looking car but I’m not too sure about the plastic trim on the car.
Kia has launched the EV9 concept. It’s a nice car and it’s based on the same electric platform as the smaller EV6 SUV. Kia aims to be an all-electric brand by 2023, so the EV9 is set to be a Telluride replacement. it is also set to have over 300 miles of range on a single charge.
Finally, the new Range Rover was also present at the LA Auto Show. That car was launched a few weeks back but it is the first time the American media and public have seen this car in person properly in North America. It’s a really nice-looking car, and the American market is very important for Land Rover’s Range Rover is it is one of their main markets.
To conclude, the SUVs launched at the event are all quite nice. Most of them are electric and there are quite a few start-ups such as Fisker visiting the show. All of these electric SUVs will most definitely make the car industry so much more exciting and we cannot wait to see the production version of these cars.
Quite a Few Sports Cars.
The most exciting part of this year’s LA Autoshow is all of the sports cars. Porsche has revealed their new GT4 RS and Taycan GTS, Nissan had the new 400Z on show, Chevrolet revealed the all-new C8 Z06 Corvette, Subaru had a pet adoption center and the new WRX, and Acura had their new Integra on show.
Overall, the LA Auto Show did not disappoint when it came to performance sports cars. My personal favorite is the new Z06 C8 Corvette which features a naturally aspirated flat-plane crankshaft 5.5 V8 with 670hp and 460 lb-ft of torque. This means that the new Z06 has the most powerful naturally aspirated V8 ever, overtaking the V8 engine used in the Mercedes SLS AMG. It sure will be a very fast car indeed, considering the standard 490hp model foes a 0-60 time of under 3 seconds.
Porsche’s new GT4 RS is also very impressive with almost 500hp and a top speed of 196 mph. That’s a car that is very track-focused with crazy aerodynamic parts such as a swan-neck spoiler and a large front splitter. Prices for that car are high at over $140,000 plus build-slot allocations for this car are very limited, and in some cases, it is one per dealership.
Acura’s new Integra is somewhat disappointing. It’s based on the same platform as the Civic and uses. 1.5-liter turbo 4-cylinder unit mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox. The Integra is a lift-back sedan now rather than a 3-door coupe and fans are not too happy at all. It is a decent-looking car, but it is nowhere near as cool as the previous Integra models. The car will be built in the USA rather than Japan.
Overall, the sports cars on offer at the LA Autoshow were pretty cool. Most models had already been launched earlier in the year but for many of the American public and media, it was the first time they had seen these cars properly in real-life. A few cars such as the Integra made their debut at the LA Autoshow.
To Conclude:
This year’s LA Auto Show proves that despite covid, car shows are far from dead. Many manufacturers really did put on a good show with new cars and concept cars. Many new start-up brands such as the Southern-Californian-based car company Mullen were also present with their new SUV, the Five. That car actually won the show’s ZEVA award, beating the likes of Lincoln and Rivian.
Many new electric cars from the traditional brands were also present. These include cars from Kia, Toyota, Subaru, and Ford. This show did prove that many car companies are Taking the switch from gas to electricity very seriously, and in the next few years, many traditional car brands will only make EVs. The main aim shared between all of these brands is to knock Tesla off its perch.
Quite a few interesting cars too also showed up. There was a life-size Barbie car based on the Fiat 500 built by Mattel. There were also quite a few electric Rest-mod electric classic cars and three-wheeled electric cars from start-up brands. there was even a hydrogen-powered truck from Hyundai.
It is very unfortunate that the 2022 Geneva Motorshow is canceled due to “covid” since this year’s LA Auto Show proves that you can still have an international car show in these somewhat “uncertain” times. The show is one from the 19th November till the 28th November at the Los Angeles Convention Centre.