The Truth About Cars » LA Auto Show

Fitting In?

Edward Niedermeyer — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:30:07 +0000

At this week’s LA Auto Show Honda’s vice president of corporate planning and logistics told Marketwatch that Honda is considering expanding production of its popular Fit to the United States. “We have about 19 days worth of supply, which is much too low,” said Honda VP Dan Bonawitz. “We can’t fill all our dealer orders.” [...]

LA Auto Show: New Mazda3

Alex Dykes — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:57:56 +0000

Up till now nobody knew Madza was competing with VW/Audi for the “largest grille” award. For those that don’t believe us, take a gander at the schnoz on the new Mazda 3. Mazda reps assure us this mug is the future of the entire brand (God helps us). Despite the fact that the Mazda 3 [...]

LA Auto Show: New Infiniti G37 Convertible

Adrian Imonti — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:49:34 +0000

Infiniti had a lot of nerve to officially unveil this object of yuppie contentment on a day that the Dow rediscovered the wrong side of 8,000 points. But wouldn’t you know it if the hardtop G37 convertible still manages to strike an attractive pose. There aren’t many surprises here; pre-launch images were released last summer. [...]

LA Auto Show: 2009 VW Jetta TDI Wins Green Car of the Year

Adrian Imonti — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:10:17 +0000

Last year’s Green Car of the Year award was a cynic’s dream come true. Bestowing the annual eco-accolades upon the ginormous, environmentally challenged Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid could persuade even the most optimistic tree hugger to hang up his Birkenstocks for good. (Full disclosure: I do not now own, nor have I ever owned, a pair [...]

LA Auto Show: Porsche Finally Kills the 911

Robert Farago — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:34:10 +0000

OK, that headline’s a bit, uh, controversial. But the new Cayman/Boxster revealed at the LA Auto Show is the beginning of the end of the 911. And why not? The “entry level” Boxster is, fundamentally, a better car than the 911. Well duh: mid-engined vs. ass engined. Porsche realized this, uh, discrepancy from the beginning, [...]

New Audi Q5: An Answer to a Question Lexus Asked?

Alex Dykes — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:41:33 +0000

Speaking of the new Lexus RX350, the Audi Q5 has made its North American debut at the LA Auto Show. This cute ute was used by Audi execs to poke fun at the hybrid and electric car pushers (they’re look at you Carlos Goshn). With a nearly unique interior, the Q5 is [...]

LA Auto Show: New Lexus RX350 RX450h “Wildly Inoffensive”

Alex Dykes — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:16:03 +0000

Lexus took their mantra of being “wildly inoffensive” down new [soft] roads at the LA Auto Show. The new RX350 and 450h now both use the 3.5-liter V6 from the Lexus family. The RX350 churns out 275hp while the Atkinson cycle powered hybrid setup powers up 295hp combined. With electric all-wheel-drive, [...]

MINI E Has More Trunk Space Than a Tesla Roadster. Just.

Adrian Imonti — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:08:37 +0000

The new electric-powered MINI E has the same shape, size and style of a regular MINI. In other words, the MINI E is small. This creates a dilemma: lithium-ion batteries that are large enough to power a car are big. BMW has tackled this problem as only a team of engineers could: by removing virtually [...]