L.A. Auto Show highlights

Lots and lots of stuff, courtesy of a WSJ.com notebook that includes reports from the WSJ, Marketwatch, Dow Jones and AP (hope the locals keep up the pace). Among the highlights:

-Italian super luxury carmaker Lamborghini shows off the Murcielago Roadster LP640, which has a more powerful 12-cylinder engine that goes from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in 3.4 seconds. CEO Stephan Winkelman says the number of people who can afford such luxury is growing (there's a 12-month waiting list for most models).

-Honda has a concept car called the Step Bus that features a "bulletin board" dash for posting notes or maps. The vehicle looks like a miniature bus and holds five passengers. It's aimed at young urbanites.

-Ford's 2008 Escape comes with a touch-screen navigation system, an iPod jack, Sirius satellite radio and a console capable of holding a lap top (multimedia-equipped cars appear to be the rage).

-On the hybrid front, GM CEO Rick Wagoner promises that Saturn will deliver the first plug-in hybrid, though he didn't give a date. John Mendel, Honda's senior vice president for automobile operations in the U.S., says that automaker will introduce "limited marketing" of a fuel-cell vehicle as early as 2008.

-For the seventh straight year, silver is the most popular color among car-buyers world-wide (though South Koreans apparently like their compact cars in red).

-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa opened the show telling GM Chairman Wagoner that "if you want to move GM to Los Angeles, we have a deal for you." Wagoner joked that he hesitates to say what a great city L.A. is because "given the mayor's remarks, people may read more into that."

-At its party Tuesday night, Volkswagon featured rapper Ludacris, who turned out to be much more of a draw than its Tiguan, a concept SUV. The guest list included Christian Slater, Nicky Hilton and Michael Moore.

-Buick pitchman Tiger Woods was asked what he thought of Wagoner's golf game. "Interesting," he said with a smile. "I'll leave it at that."


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Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
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