This year's Los Angeles International Auto Show will feature a slew of new crossover and sport-utility models, like the new 2017 Jeep Compass.
The country’s biggest automotive market is also its greenest, and that’s been reflected by the steady stream of hybrids, plug-ins, battery-electric and fuel-cell vehicles that have, in recent years, been the stars of the annual Los Angeles Auto Show.
But things are shifting direction this year, and the spotlight is shining bright on a slew of new sport- and crossover-utility vehicles. They’re coming from virtually everywhere in the automotive world, and from brands that might come as a surprise, including Italy’s Alfa Romeo, a marque best known for sleek sports cars such as the 4C two-seater, and sport sedans like the Giulia that headlined the 2015 L.A. Auto Show.
That’s not to say battery-based vehicles will be absent from the show entirely. Jaguar Land Rover is expected to reveal a new long-range battery-electric vehicle, or BEV, during this week’s media preview in Los Angeles. It joins a growing list of manufacturers who are, often unexpectedly adding battery cars to their line-ups. But Jaguar also has just added its first SUV, complementing the huge growth at sibling Land Rover which is staging the U.S. debut of its new Discovery model in L.A. this week.
The surge of SUVs landing in Los Angeles should be no surprise. Utility vehicles of all sorts, from compact crossovers to large and more traditional models, such as the “Disco,” are the sole hot spot in a cooling U.S. automotive market. Light trucks, in general, now account for about 60% of new vehicle sales, but demand for pickups has begun to soften, even as incentives increase.
(Check out the major debuts coming to the L.A. auto show, Click Here.)
Subaru plans to invade the LA Show with several models including its new SUV concept the Viziv 7.
Consumers appear to like the higher seating position, the more rugged versatility – and the general style of utes. Manufacturers are only happy to oblige considering these vehicles tend to deliver much higher profit margins than similarly sized sedans.
With fuel prices at near rock bottom levels, demand is expected to remain strong. And analyst Joe Phillippi, of AutoTrends Consulting, doesn’t expect that to change even if prices rise a bit, noting that today’s utes typically carry only modest penalties – in some cases as little as one or two miles per gallon – compared to similar-sized passenger cars.
Hoping to tap into this trend, a number of automakers are entering the SUV segment for the first time. The last year has brought the debut of the Jaguar F-Pace, the Maserati Levante and the Bentley Bentayga. High-line makers set to follow include Rolls-Royce and Lamborghini.
Alfa Romeo is also getting into the act, what is expected to be called the Stelvio set to make its debut at the L.A. Convention Center this week. The new model will share much of its basics with the Giulia sedan that debuted last year – but which is just now set to go on sale in the U.S. The name, Stelvio, incidentally, refers to one of the most treacherous passes through the Italian Alps, a route beloved by sports car fans.
(Alfa Romeo set to debut new SUV at Los Angeles Auto Show. Click Here for details.)
Audi's next-gen Q5 ute debuted in Paris and is now coming to the L.A. Auto Show.
Other big SUV and CUV debuts scheduled for this week include:
- Audi’s popular Q5 SUV got a European debut at the Paris Motor Show just a few months ago. The version on display in L.A. won’t look radically different from a styling perspective but will add subtle details, such as LED lamps. And, under the skin, it will shed about 200 pounds, making it more maneuverable and fuel-efficient;
- Ford has been a long-time player in the SUV market with models ranging from the Edge to Explorer. Now it moves down-market with the Ecosport, its smallest U.S. ute yet. Based on a popular global model, it will target the likes of the Chevrolet Trax and the new Toyota C-HR;
- The new Jeep Compass, a complete redesign of the aging compact crossover that has been around for a decade, making it one of the brand’s, indeed the industry’s, oldest offerings. Designed to resemble the hot-selling Jeep Grand Cherokee, the new Compass is expected to have much better on-road manners, though a Trail Hawk addition will retain off-road chops;
- Land Rover’s Discovery is a larger version of the Discovery Sport that made its debut in 2015. First shown during the Paris Motor Show, L.A. brings the first appearance of this three-row model in the United States;
- The Mini Countryman returns in second-generation form and, as with other recent remakes by the British brand, it grows a little bit larger. That partially reflects the fact it now shares platforms with parent BMW’s small X1 ute. The new version of the Countryman will be Mini’s first model offered with a plug-in hybrid option;
The new Mini Countryman will appear in L.A.
- Mitsubishi is struggling to find a clear identity for itself, shifting more and from passenger cars to utility vehicles. Mitsubishi has long been a player in the SUV market, but it has been pushing boundaries with recent concepts, and the eX electric concept should be no exception;
- Subaru is another brand that was an earlier pioneer in crossovers, thanks to the popular Outback line. The L.A. Auto Show will bring out a concept that will be the brand’s biggest vehicle ever, offering three rows for the first time. That said, the production model due in 2018 is reportedly going to look only slightly like the concept version;
- The compact C-HR was here in Los Angeles last year, but back then it bore the Scion badge. With that youth-oriented brand now abandoned, the production model is back and adorned with a Toyota logo. This Turkish-made import will target such popular small crossovers as the Nissan Juke;
- Only weeks ago, Volkswagen unveiled its new Atlas SUV at a private media event a dozen miles away from the L.A. Convention Center, but now it gets a public showing. The model revealed on the Santa Monica pier is VW’s first three-row ute and will deliver room for seven adults. It is a critical addition to a brand that has been missing out on the SUV explosion;
One brand that has been pushing hard into the utility vehicle space in recent years is Volvo. The first model in its flagship 90 series, in fact, was the redesigned XC90 – which won honors as North American Truck/Utility Vehicle of the year last January. The next model in that family was the 2017 S90 sedan. Now comes a design that harkens back to the Swedish makers roots, the new 2017 V90 showing that Volvo isn’t walking away from the wagons that were long a foundation of the brand.
(To see more of Volvo’s new V90 wagon, Click Here.)