LA MOTOR SHOW: City of angels to host 20-plus world debuts

Organisers of the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show have announced that no fewer than 20 vehicles will make their world debuts on November 28, despite the fact at least that number of global premieres will take place at the Paris Motor Show in September.

Including North American debuts, LA show organisers say more than 40 premieres will be staged at the Californian show this year, with more expected to be confirmed over the next four and a half months.

Carmakers already confirmed to stage world debuts in LA include Chevrolet, BMW, Fiat, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Toyota and Acura.

While Toyota is expected to unveil its fourth-generation RAV4 for the first time, Porsche is due to lift the lid on its second-generation Cayman coupe.

Continuing the trend of recent years will be a host of hybrid and all-electric vehicle debuts, while Acura, Bentley, BMW, Jaguar and Land Rover are expected to reveal new luxury and/or performance models.

Naturally, also on hand will be many of the world debuts that appeared two months earlier in Paris, including Volkswagen’s new Mk7 Golf (artist's impression pictured), Skoda’s next-generation Octavia, the redesigned Mazda6, Renault’s new Clio, Jaguar’s all-new F-Type, the redesigned Range Rover, Porsche’s new Carrera 4 range, Audi’s new A3 Sportback and facelifted Q5 and R8, BMW’s all-new 2 Series-previewing Compact Activity Tourer concept and the production version of Mercedes’ SLS E-Cell and CLA.

“As the first major North American show of the season, LA sets the tone for 2013 and we expect that auto-makers will pull out all the stops to excite new-car buyers,” said the LA Auto Show General Manager, Andy Fuzesi.

“In virtually every category from the greenest electric vehicle to high-horsepower performance models, the technological advancements we are seeing today eclipse all previous automotive eras.”

In addition, this year’s LA show will underline California’s reputation as a global leader in low-emissions vehicle demand by staging the new Automotive Technology Showcase.

Presented by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the ATS aims to connect automotive technology companies with car-makers, media, analysts and potential customers and partners by featuring technologies such as digital speech recognition, accident avoidance technology, navigation systems, real-time traffic data and solutions designed to mitigate distracted driving concerns.

Image courtesy of Carparazzi

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