los angeles car show 2022
- Thread starter jstert
- Start date
When I was much younger used to be an avid car show visitor. Never missed one. The annual show in Chicago was in February and at the magnificient McCormick Place right on the lake front. Was a mid-winter treat. The event was a spectacular gala of glitter, shiny new paint and steel, music, acres of brand new carpeting and of course some of the most beautiful women my testosterone addled brain had ever been close to.
Today the cars are (to me) uninteresting, homogenized, overpriced appliances. Of course there is always the danger in any crowd of a psychopath lurking in the shadows.
Sadly car shows are a no-go zone for me.
Today the cars are (to me) uninteresting, homogenized, overpriced appliances. Of course there is always the danger in any crowd of a psychopath lurking in the shadows.
Sadly car shows are a no-go zone for me.
Is it because of supply issues?
Why anger the customers by showing them something that they cannot buy kind of a thing?
I look at auto shows as a place to pick a vehicle I’ll purchase used in 5 years. 
They are not as exciting as they once were. Although if you are interested in tall and boxy SUV shaped EV cars, they are all the rage now.
went to l.a. car show on saturday. kinda disappointing, as others commented, and a far cry from my first car shows that i attended in nyc starting in late 1960s. over the following years i have attended numerous car shows in detroit, toronto, seoul, tokyo, kuala lumpur, jakarta, manila, singapore, vientiane, boston, washington dc and many small regional ones in usa. l.a. was no match, even for the 2022 car show in far-off vientiane, laos. i’m not much of a wrencher but i am a car nut.
l.a.:
expensive parking and entry fees.
missing audi, bmw, mb, plus buick, infiniti, mini, mitsubishi.
lots of non-car stuff, even a petting zoo and stage shows for kids.
lots of green messaging.
lots of silly, tricked-out, vehicles.
lots of out of control kids jumping in and out of vehicles.
virtually no technically-literate reps.
no brochures.
no car show models.
whatever it was, it wasn’t a car show but it seemed like an amusement park in modern california through and through.
i did come away impressed with the hyundai santa cruz and nissan pathfinder. i simply lack the lifestyle to match their capabilities.
ok, maybe i sound curmudgeonly to some, but my experience + my money = my informed opinion. cheers.
l.a.:
expensive parking and entry fees.
missing audi, bmw, mb, plus buick, infiniti, mini, mitsubishi.
lots of non-car stuff, even a petting zoo and stage shows for kids.
lots of green messaging.
lots of silly, tricked-out, vehicles.
lots of out of control kids jumping in and out of vehicles.
virtually no technically-literate reps.
no brochures.
no car show models.
whatever it was, it wasn’t a car show but it seemed like an amusement park in modern california through and through.
i did come away impressed with the hyundai santa cruz and nissan pathfinder. i simply lack the lifestyle to match their capabilities.
ok, maybe i sound curmudgeonly to some, but my experience + my money = my informed opinion. cheers.
Car ads are now saying "reserve yours now". Lots are still empty.
I loved going to the Chicago auto show! It was a grand experience and the cars were so different back then. I remember the exotics and foreign cars were on another level...
The displays were awesome and so were the gorgeous models... Today though??? Not the same. I lost interest in all the "gimmicks".
Several automakers started to pull out of participating in auto shows several years ago because there was little benefit for the expense. Gawkers did not translate to buyers, at least for some car companies.
Mazda is another one that stopped participating. The last time it was at the local Motor Trend–affiliated auto show was around 2014.
Mazda is another one that stopped participating. The last time it was at the local Motor Trend–affiliated auto show was around 2014.
I started working as a Sales Manager for a major distributor (half a billion in sales) in my particular industry. Every year they would have a major booth at a trade show in Long Beach, CA.-it was tradition more than anything else. I noticed not enough returns (sales) to account for this very major expense. Especially when considering all the sales people that needed to be pulled off the street to work "the booth". I was personally responsible for saying the next year "let's sit this one out" and see what happens. Sales remained as projected and we saved A TON of money. Trade shows are far too expensive and need to be carefully considered.
This is happening in Agriculture at the major farm shows as well. Some major equipment manufacturers are starting to skip the farm shows. Most of the time it’s freeloaders looking for free stuff and are not likely to actually spend money.
I think jalopnik.com or one of the other car publications just posted an article that some of these car shows are a minimum $75k to get in the door. Large booths with power, lighting etc can run in excess of $250,000. I attended the 2017 Denver Auto show with journalist press passes. I got to meet some interesting people. I was shocked that the majority of the people at the booths knew almost nothing about the product. The Nissan host knew alot about the specs and tech. The host /model at the Audi, and VW booth asked if I wanted to take over as I knew more about the products than she did. Both hosts at the Alfa Romeo booth told several people they had no idea and to "go online " for answers.
Cute models and handsome men saying: "Please visit our website....."
