For the next few days (until Friday, 12-1-06), we'll be at MEDIA DAYS for the 100th 
anniversary edition of the LOS ANGELES AUTO SHOW. Since its inception in 1907 (and some of you may have been there ...), the Los Angeles Auto Show has grown from 99 cars staged inside a skating rink into a major international event showcasing 1,000 of the newest vehicles from almost 50 manufacturers around the world.
On Wednesday, 11-29, I will be a guest on PATT MORRISON's popular radio show on 89.3 KPCC, Los Angeles' NPR station, between 2:30pm and 3pm. If you're within range, please tune-in and find out the latest from the LA AUto Show! You can also listen-in online at www.SCPR.org ... or hear it after the live broadcast by downloading the podcats on that site.
The LA Auto Show has been named, for the first time, an "International" auto show by the industry group in Paris which sanctions and rates the world's auto shows. This puts the LA Show in the same league, officially, as Tokyo, Detroit, Frankfurt and the world's other top exhibitions.
A record 35 vehicles will make their world or North American debut, the most ever in the show's history. Of those, 21 are world debuts and seven are concept cars. The show runs from December 1 to December 10th at the Los Angeles Convention Center (which you've seen, without knowing it, in more TV shows, feature films and commercials than we'd be able to list).
The show is now being held one month earlier than usual, to avoid the perennial conflict of dates (and media, cars and executives) with the Detroit Auto Show. There were many years in the recent past when executives "pulling the sheets" off their new cars had to be in Los Angeles and Detroit on the very same day, and this made for a lot of cranky execs from the US, Europe and Asia, as well as tired-out journalists, more-demanding-than-before editors and, worst, confused show-goers in both cities.
The Los Angeles area also is home to over 15 manufacturer's design facilities, and those stylists, engineers and designers will again be honored at the LA Auto Show; of the seven concept vehicles making their world debut at the LA Auto Show, four of them --- Acura, Honda, Hyundai and Mazda --- were designed in the LA area.
Something too often overlooked at the LA Auto Show is the "Mini-SEMA SHOW" which takes place in Kentia Hall at the LA Convention Center. That entire huge convention floor, a bit hard to find but worth the effort, contains an immense assortment of companies which manufacture appearance and performance accessories --- It is the ''Aftermarket -- LA-Style"!
We'll have a tremendous amount of Los Angeles Auto Show news, photos and 'CAR NUT TV' video (www.CarNutTV.com) for you in the next few days, so Please Stand By!
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