Payne: Best of the 2023 LA Auto Show

Posted by Talbot Payne on November 17, 2023

Los Angeles — Nowhere are the auto industry’s various transformations more apparent than in California.

Automakers are transitioning to electric vehicles under government pressure, autos are becoming smartphones on wheels, and car shows are shrinking in importance. The Golden State may be the United States’ biggest market, but brands have fled the Los Angeles Auto Show, just as they have Detroit, New York and Chicago. The LA Convention Center this year is empty of crowd pleasers like Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Land Rover, Jaguar and Audi — as well as the entire Stellantis stable due to the UAW strike. Big auto displays have been replaced by acres of EV test tracks.

Where the LA Show was once packed with two days of automaker news conferences, this year there were just five. Still, shows have the ability to wow as Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson’s impassioned, packed introduction of the Lucid Gravity showed.

Here are the coolest vehicles of the 2024 LA Auto Show.

Lucid Gravity

Car of show. Lucid’s much-anticipated SUV sequel to the stunning Air sedan (arguably the most beautiful vehicle in autodom) did not disappoint. CEO Rawlinson has a flair for the dramatic and he rolled out the electric ute proclaiming it an “unprecedented combination of the impossible,” slamming competitor EVs for their “dumb range” and sitting in the front trunk of his SUV “just for the frunk of it.” With its efficient electric motors and battery, the Lucid defies gravity with 112 cubic feet of storage space (with rear seats flattened), glass console, seating for seven, 440-mile range, 800 horsepower, 3.6 second 0-60 mph shot, 6,000-pound towing, and a curved, 34-inch OLED screen. Starting price? Under $80k to grab that federal $7,500 EV tax credit.

The Honda Prelude concept teases a two-door performance model that was last offered to U.S. buyers in 2001.The Honda Prelude concept teases a two-door performance model that was last offered to U.S. buyers in 2001.

Honda Prelude Concept

Surprise, the Prelude is back! Honda snuck its famous performance badge into the show as a fetching, two-door concept. A favorite of Honda enthusiasts, Prelude hasn’t been seen on U.S. shores since 2001. Expect a quick coupe (filling a void where the Civic Si coupe use to be) built on the Civic platform powered by a hybrid powerplant.

The redesigned Hyundai Santa Fe bowed at the Los Angeles Auto Show.The redesigned Hyundai Santa Fe bowed at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Hyundai Santa Fe

Hyundai opened with news that it will be the first brand available to buy on Amazon’s new online auto store (one of the few products left that can’t be bought there already). Then it made more news by making the Korean brand’s staid, three-row family crossover a fashion plate. The Made-in-‘Bama SUV gets striking, bold, LEGO-block styling with the Hyundai “H” providing inspiration for lighting and interior dash details. Packed inside this shoebox are twin gloveboxes, twin wireless phone chargers, and a double-hinged center console accessible to rear passengers as well as those up front. An off-road-focused XRT model gets a chassis lift and 30-inch all-terrain tires.

2024 LA Auto Show - Hyundai Ioniq 5 N2024 LA Auto Show - Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

Hyunda Ioniq 5 N

Hyundai’s electric hot hatch. Like BMW’s M division and Ford’s ST, N means fun for Hyundai enthusiasts. The brand takes its electric Ioniq 5 hatchback and turns it into a fire-breathing track monster with supercar-like 641 horsepower (nearly double that of the regular Ioniq 5) from twin electric motors. Like its sibling, gas-fired Elantra N, the 5 N dons a black face mask and aggressive rear spoiler. Other goodies include massive, 15.8-inch brakes and “e-shift” that simulates the feel of an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission in a gas vehicle — complete with angry engine sounds.

2024 LA Auto Show - Subaru Forester intro2024 LA Auto Show - Subaru Forester intro

Subaru Forester

Amidst the blizzard of expensive electric toys, Subaru introduced its latest, affordable, $29k compact SUV. A companion compact ute to the chunky, tennis-show-design-inspired Crosstrek, Forster is much more conservative with its upright grille and tidy lines. If  you want some spice in your white bread, opt for the Sport edition and its 19-inch gold wheels. Inside, Forester adopts the big, 11.6-inch touchscreen found on other ‘Rus. All-wheel-drive, IIHS Top Safety Pick, best-in-class residuals come standard. A hybrid model will follow in a year.

Here it is: The ninth-generation Toyota Camry, the best-selling sedan in America.Here it is: The ninth-generation Toyota Camry, the best-selling sedan in America.

Toyota Camry

Americas’ best-selling sedan gets a new wardrobe, adopting the brand’s signature hammerhead fascia (see the handsome Prius) and better driver visibility out of its expanded greenhouse. Under the skin, the Camry will now be available only as a hybrid to satisfy government nannies, while offering all-wheel-drive on all model trims to help with traction in Michigan winters.

The battery-powered Ford wheelchair will give people with mobility issues an easy way to get around at parks.The battery-powered Ford wheelchair will give people with mobility issues an easy way to get around at parks.

Ford wheelchair

The Bronco of wheelchairs. In the middle of a Ford display packed with greyhounds like the Mustang GTD and blue-trimmed California Special sits a beast for the mobility impaired. Thanks to a portion of Bronco SUV sales going to the Bronco Wild Fund, 18 state parks around the country will harbor a wheelchair equipped with tank tracks so those with mobility issues can hit the trails in style. The wheelchairs are powered by twin 12-volt batteries, and the driver gets four cupholders. Participating parks near Michigan include Indiana’s Potato Creek State Park, Buckhorn State Park in Wisconsin, and Pipestem Resort State Park in West Virginia.

This 1970 Dodge Challenger "Bane" is one of the vehicles from Kevin Hart's collection that visitors to the Los Angeles Auto Show can check out.This 1970 Dodge Challenger "Bane" is one of the vehicles from Kevin Hart's collection that visitors to the Los Angeles Auto Show can check out.

Dodge Challenger ‘Bane’

A Ferrari 812 Competizione sits in the middle of popular comedian Kevin Hart’s car collection at the LA Show. But the revelation is that the “Jumanji” star has a taste for modified, V8-powerd Detroit muscle and movie bad guys. So he has given his creations names like the 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner “Michael Myers,” and 1970 Dodge Charger “Hellraiser.” My favorite is a sinister, black 1970 Dodge Challenger “Bane” — named after Batman’s nemesis — stuffed with a 7.0-liter, supercharged V-8 Hellephant Hemi making 1,000 horsepower.

Long live the V-8.

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.

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