The 2018 edition of the Los Angeles Auto Show is unusually big because it falls between a quiet Paris show and the smallest Detroit show in recent memory. In addition to the luxury cars that shine every year, car companies will bring economy cars and trucks to the event. Here’s a preview of what we’ll see.
The annual Los Angeles Auto Show stands out as one of the most important dates on the automotive calendar. The 2018 edition of the event was bigger than usual because it followed an abnormally quiet Paris show and preceded what’s shaping up to be the smallest Detroit show ever. Car companies from all over the spectrum consequently chose Los Angeles to unveil significant production models and futuristic concept cars.
The Los Angeles show is usually a luxury-oriented event where jet-setter-friendly cars shine under the bright lights. This year, we saw a little bit of everything. The luxury segment was well represented, make no mistake, but we also discovered brand-new trucks, SUVs, and even economy cars. Here are the major product announcements made in Los Angeles by brands like Jeep, Kia, Mazda, Porsche, and newcomer Rivian.
We’ve often heard rumors of a battery-electric Audi Sport model; this is it. From a design standpoint, the E-Tron GT blazes the path that Audi’s other high-performance electric cars will follow. The interior, like Moby, is 100% vegan and damn proud of it. Audi upholstered the four seats with recycled cloth and cleaned up the planet’s oceans by making the floor mats with discarded fishing nets.
The E-Tron GT is closely related to the upcoming Porsche Taycan under the sheet metal. The two sedans share a basic platform, a 96-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, two electric motors that provide nearly 600 horsepower, and numerous chassis components. These specifications are impressive, but the best part about the GT is that it’s already on its way to production.
“We have never done a show car as close to series production as this,” Enzo Rothfuss, Audi’s head of interior design, told Digital Trends with an unconcealable smile. Marc Lichte, the brand’s charismatic design boss, echoed his comments. That means what you see displayed under the bright lights at the annual Los Angeles show is what you’ll get in showrooms in almost exactly two years’ time
More on the Audi E-Tron GT concept
Jeep returned to the pickup truck segment it left over a quarter of a century ago. The outdoorsy Gladiator is based on the fourth-generation Wrangler, but its wheelbase is longer and it receives a five-foot cargo box to carry gear and toys. Its natural habitat is a dirt trail miles away from the nearest paved road, not a construction site. Adventurers who want the full Gladiator experience can take off the top, remove the doors, and fold down the windshield. It’s the only truck that doubles as a convertible.
The only engine available at launch will be a 285-horsepower, 3.6-liter V6 that shifts through a standard six-speed manual transmission or an optional eight-speed automatic. Four-wheel drive will come standard; it’s an evolution of the Wrangler, after all.
