At the recent Los Angeles Auto Show (pictured below are serveral highlights), Lexus flaunted its Ferrari-challenging LF-A model, priced at $375,000. Rolls-Royce showed its new Ghost model, priced at $245,000. Both are bold, significant cars and will likely sell as their producers predict. But the fact that the Toyota-produced Lexus can justify its price tag is a measure of how much the automotive world is changing. Lexus will build only five hundred of the LF-A.
Rolls-royce Ghost model
The LA Auto Show is the most important of its type in the United States. Auto manufacturers who have new products to unveil prefer L.A. to lesser shows in Detroit, New York, and Chicago. The Show also recognizes California’s importance in the creative side of the auto industry. Most car companies maintain a design studio in Southern California because they acknowledge that automotive innovation, starting with hot-rodding in the 1930s, is a key piece of California life.
Another dramatic new model was the boldly styled Dutch brand Spyker, a small volume two-seater.
The primary theme running through the major manufacturers’ displays was a new generation of small, but interesting, and sometimes fairly expensive, compact cars. Ford showed its European Fiesta, which will soon be manufactured and sold in the U.S., to compete with Toyota, VW, Nissan, and Honda.
Lexus LF-A
Mazda, now with less Ford influence, showed its new “2” series. I had a chance to drive one in France about a year ago and found it impressive. Like so many other tiny cars, it isn’t slow, noisy, or cramped like small cars of the past. Careful space utilization and sophisticated mechanicals make the new generation of fuel-sipping cars extremely road-worthy and comfortable.
A side effect is that makers of higher-priced cars, because of this push from below, have to work hard to justify their premium pricing. At the same time, makers like Toyota, with a sophisticated (and fairly pricey) new Sienna minivan, and Honda, with its Crosstour, are pushing into costly luxe territory.
DISPLACEMENT
You’ve read about the reduction in the number of auto dealers carrying American brands. You may have traveled around California and observed empty car dealerships. Some of them will never reopen. But others may well choose to sell different brands. Among those planning big increases in the U.S. market are Volkswagen (with a huge new factory in Tennessee), Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, and Suzuki. The least prominent of those, Suzuki, is an interesting example. They’ve been in the U.S. for more than twenty years, but haven’t really taken hold.
Now there’s a sort of product renaissance led by a significant new sedan called the Suzuki Kizashi. Most other Asian models have used Anglicized model names—Accord, Camry, Maxima. Kizashi is distinctively Japanese. The car is a little different, too. Aimed at the Camry/Accord/Fusion sector, it’s about a half-size smaller and more crisp. It’s like an Audi A4, very compact, evident high quality, tastefully finished with enduring style, and a solid joy to drive. Most San Francisco buyers will still pay the fifty percent price premium for the Audi. But those who test-drive the Suzuki will have a tougher decision to make.
Suzuki is a big international company; it makes about three times as many cars as Chrysler, and double the amount of Mercedes or BMW. Suzuki is typically one of the top sellers in Japan, and the company’s a big factor in India. In Europe, Suzuki sells ten times as many cars as in the U.S. The company has big plans for its stateside invasion. It will be looking to franchise some of those ex-domestic dealers. Those other brands will, too.
The upshot of all this: consumers have never had a better range of choice.
Martin Swig is a former San Francisco new-car dealer who now presents the internationally-celebrated California Mille and other historic car events. As a free service to Gazette readers, he’ll offer suggestions on how to dispose of a cherished car. Call him at 415-479-9950.
