Los Angeles Auto Show

LOS ANGELES--The 2012 Green Car of the Year was announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show today. It's a 2012 Honda Civic, but it's not the hybrid model.

When the curtain dropped on the stage where the 2012 Green Car of the Year was announced this morning, it was the oft-overlooked 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas that stood before the room full of journalists.

Green Car Journal cites natural gases abundance in the United States, low tailpipe emissions, and lower fuel cost (by about 30 percent) than gasoline among its reasons for selecting the Civic Natural Gas as … Read more

LOS ANGELES--The JX crossover that took a bow here at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show is a platform for a few firsts for the Infiniti brand.

It's the first model with a continuously variable transmission (CVT), the first implementation of the automaker's Backup Collision Intervention system, and the first model to incorporate the styling cues that debuted on the Infiniti Essence concept.

The JX35 will be the first model in the JX series and will be powered by a 265-horsepower version of Infiniti 3.5-liter workhorse V-6. That engine will send 248 pound-feet of torque through a … Read more

LOS ANGELES--Despite changed proportions, the new 911 retains its iconic look.

By now the 2012 Porsche 911 has been unveiled more times than we can keep track of, but the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show marked the seventh-generation 911's large-stage debut in North America (it had been shown at October's Rennsport Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, but to a much smaller crowd). It was displayed alongside the latest variant of the Panamera, the GTS, which will be available as a 2013 model.

Perhaps the most intriguing single feature of the latest version of Porsche's most familiar … Read more

LOS ANGELES--Ford's new Escape uses the company's latest tech, under the hood and in the cabin.

In the U.S., Ford has been selling the Escape for many years. In Europe, it sold another small SUV, the Kuga. Taking advantage of economies of scale, Ford has now combined the vehicles into one, launching an all-new, modern, small SUV designed to appeal to buyers around the world.

The new car will keep its Escape and Kuga names in different markets, but in most other regards will be identical. The 2013 Escape unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show benefits … Read more

...and then there were three.

LOS ANGELES--The Toyota FT-86 II and Scion FR-S concepts are joined today by Subaru's vision for the lightweight, rear-driven sports car platform with the unveiling of the Subaru BRZ concept STI at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show. This marks our first official peek at the BRZ in the sheet metal; the previous offerings showed off the drivetrain, but not the external styling.

As a bit of a hat tip to enthusiasts who have been eagerly awaiting the BRZ, Subaru decided that the first concept should showcase what an STI variant of the sports … Read more

LOS ANGELES--If you've ever criticized Hyundai for derivative design, you'll want to have your torches and pitchforks at the ready for this one.

The first thing I thought when Hyundai pulled the wraps off of its new 2012 Azera here at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show was that it looked just like a Toyota Camry. Perhaps that's not totally fair, because as the large sedan spun slowly on its turntable, I also saw hints of Mazda6, Nissan Altima, and BMW 6-Series. For a brand like Hyundai that's been building a ton of steam over the … Read more

LOS ANGELES--Volkswagen is keeping the specifications of the Beetle R concept a secret, but the production Golf R, coming out next year, should give some clues.

Letters like GTI and GLI used to spell performance in Volkswagen terminology, but the German carmaker is introducing a new letter, R. The company now has an entire performance division tuning up existing Volkswagen models and slapping an R badge on them. The first effort hitting production is the Golf R, and now Volkswagen is showing off a concept version of a Beetle R.

Based on the 2012 Beetle, the Beetle R concept has … Read more

LOS ANGELES--Cadillac killed two old birds with one stone today.

The old birds in question are the aging DTS and STS luxury sedan that will likely both be replaced by the new 2013 Cadillac XTS sedan unveiled here at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show this morning.

The XTS gets a healthy dose of Cadillac's Art and Science design language, so it's no surprise that the sedan ends up looking quite a bit like a larger, more upright version of the automaker's popular CTS sedan. The XTS also shares the 3.6-liter, direct-injection V-6 engine that lurks … Read more

Ford is partnering with Azure Dynamics on a five-seater station wagon version of its Transit Connect all-electric vans.

Both companies announced the project Wednesday in time for the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show.

The Ford Transit Connect Electric Wagon will be available in North America immediately, with plans to eventually sell it in Europe as well.

The Transit Connect vans, which went into production in 2010, are already in the fleets of AT&T, DHL, FedEx, and Post Norway, to name a few. The vehicle won the 2010 North American Truck of the Year award, to the surprise of … Read more