LA MOTOR SHOW: Car Cult California

At the epicentre of fashion, style and the Kardashians, the Los Angeles motor show this year was a contradiction of sorts. A trend wasn’t obvious nor something you could reach out and touch.

Technology is always a talking point. The twist this year wasn’t technology as the great friend of performance, but technology directed at moving quickly toward autonomous control and improved air quality.

Californians love the sun, surf and clean air, and the state’s strict regulations for clean tailpipe output found several plausible solutions.

Hyundai announced its clean-air solution as a hydrogen-fuelled Tucson (aka ix35) available for lease in early 2014. Claiming a 480km driving range (comparable to Tesla’s battery-electric Model S), Hyundai’s fuel-cell technology is expensive and not for sale.

Hyundai will lease the hydrogen-charged Tucson to Southern Californian customers for $US499 per month for 36 months. The deal includes all fuel costs and maintenance.

Honda and Toyota, too, are talking H2 as a future solution for SoCal’s air quality. Honda already leases its fuel-cell FCX Clarity and announced it will begin selling next-generation fuel-cell technology in 2015 in a car designed around a more compact fuel cell stack.

At the near-simultaneous LA and Tokyo shows Toyota announced on-going development of a hydrogen-fuelled car scheduled for launch in the US in 2016. The attraction is zero emissions; the detraction is scarcity of refuelling locations.

BMW’s electric i3 city-car was almost overlooked maybe because at $60,000-plus and a driving range of about 160km, it will not do much more than the Nissan LEAF. BMW claims its lithium-ion batteries are safe, cooled by a refrigerant gas and adequately protected from penetration and impact damage.

Power never gets boring, and we thank Subaru for yet another new WRX celebrating 20 years of keeping the faith and staying true to its core with minor changes in form.

After dropping Skyline from GT-R, Nissan is now adding Nismo to GT-R and several other models as a badge code for higher performance, firmer suspension control and carbon-fibre. By introducing Nismo, Nissan intends to appeal to those buyers who have moved to BMW’s M division, Mercedes-AMG and John Cooper Works for a bit more attitude.

Nissan-Renault announced even bigger long-term plans for the Infiniti brand. Australian Michael Bartsch was very recently appointed vice-president of Infiniti Americas, and will play a larger role in building Infiniti into a stand-alone global brand with unique platforms, powertrains and design DNA.

Infiniti is rumoured to be spending $15 billion in the next three years to develop its product range for launch in key markets such as China. To put this in dollar context, Chrysler is valued at only $10 billion.

Ford showed the Edge Concept and talked a lot about emerging technologies that would bridge the gap between driver and autonomy. Ford openly communicated long-term plans to add driver aids such as self-parking and collision avoidance to most of its future product range.

Talkative about technology, Ford remained quiet about its decision on which of its global-platform SUVs would replace Australia’s homegrown Territory. The Edge is built on Ford’s C/D platform, which is also the foundation for the Mondeo, but at this stage only offers five seats.

Kia revealed the K900 and asked the question; “Why drive a BMW 5 Series when you can drive the K900 for similar dosh?” Kia and Ford admitted to moving quickly toward autonomy and so far Kia is a few strides ahead. The K900 bristles with technology and cool stuff that makes you look twice at the badge.

Chevrolet did a very cool thing by reintroducing the mid-sized Colorado with a 2.8-litre turbo-diesel, which is more impactful in the short term than the handful of hydrogen-fuelled cars Hyundai, Honda and Toyota will put on the road.

Lighter, faster and more fuel-efficient than a full-size pick-up, Chevrolet expects the Colorado to attract around 150,000 buyers per year.

Meanwhile, Chevrolet dealers are left questioning the new SS. They admit the rebadged VF Commodore SS is a good car and will sell, but so far they have been allocated so few of the V8 four-door sedans that they really don’t see a benefit to their financial bottom line.

California’s love affair for cars creates an incredibly influential culture that casts a global presence. If it works in California, the odds are good it will work worldwide. The show this year was less about design and style as it was about fuel-efficiency and clean air. Who’s to argue? If LA casts a cloud over the industry, it might as well be a clean one.

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