The Mercury News

2019 LA Auto Show

- James Raia, a syndicated automotive columnist in Sacramento, publishes theweeklyd­river.com and its correspond­ing free weekly podcast. Contact him via email: james@ jamesraia.com.

Vegas-located Consumer Electronic­s Show (CES), Jan 7-10, a public show, and the Specialty Equipment Market Associatio­n, (SEMA), a private internatio­nal trade show, Nov. 5-8, also crowd the schedule.

Among the vehicles scheduled for debut at the LA Auto Show this year: 2020 Audi e-tron Sportback, 2020 Audi RS Q8, 2021 Toyota RAV4 hybrid and 2020 Nissan Sentra.

Featured vehicles will include: 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo EV, 2020 Cadillac XT6, 2020 Subaru Legacy, Toyota Camry and Avalon TRD.

Many alternativ­e fuel manufactur­ers, hybrid, electronic and hydrogen, as well as autonomous vehicles will all have a presence. Byton and Rivian, electric manufactur­ers based in the Bay Area, made debuts last year in Los Angeles. Both are pending their public releases. Vehicles accessorie­s to custom cars and affiliated companies will have niche locations throughout the Convention Center.

Like other major car shows, the LA Auto Show is also a hands-on experience. Test drives this year will be offered by Acura, Fiat Chrysler, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Several companies will have interactiv­e exhibits, with Lego likely among the most popular. It will offer a hands-on experience, honoring the Los Angeles car culture. A full-size Bugatti Chiron replica made entirely of Lego Technic bricks and elements will be on display.

As if new vehicle models aren’t sufficient, car shows are also testing locales for vehicle concepts. Attention-grabbing, one-off machines are showcased every year. Other concepts are nearly the same vehicles manufactur­ers will soon offer publicly.

In recent years, the Audi TT, BMW i8, Bugatti Veyron, Chevy Volt, Ford GT, Kia Soul and Tesla Model 3 all debuted as concept cars and all became production vehicles.

The LA Convention Center is located in the city’s busiest metropolit­an area. In addition to various ticket prices, suggestion­s for parking and public transporta­tion and well as instructio­ns to download the show’s app are available on the website: laautoshow.com.

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