LA Show looks to the future

• The real feature on the GM show stand is the Volt (pictured), the world's first workable range-extender hybrid.

A visit to the Los Angeles auto show is a great way to close out 2010.

The show is upbeat and impressive, with a huge range of preview cars and newcomers. The stands have everything from a new price fighter at Hyundai to a wide range of plug-in electric cars, a couple of serious exotics and even Sharon Stone as the superstar guest at Lotus.

There was doom and gloom with capitals all around. At the time, few people could see any sort of future for the American carmakers, even if Ford has already done a very smart re-structure and was free of debut.It's a massive contrast to 2008, when opening day in LA coincided with the first serious bankruptcy moves involving the Big Three in Washington. On that day, Chrysler could not even afford to turn the lights on at its stand and the whole show looked like a ghost town.  

General Motors and Chrysler were expected to collapse. This time, the opening in LA coincides with a successful share float for New GM and Chrysler is pumped by new products and a partnership with Fiat that finally promises the sort of cars and trucks that people want in the USA.

Sales are up across the board from the disastrous rout in 2009, which cost GM its number one slot to Toyota and made China the world's biggest new-car showroom. There is still plenty of concern about the future in the USA, but it's not just among and about car brands.The overall economy is very weak, although at least people are buying cars again and have recognised that something needs to be done.

Even the cars from Detroit have changed. GM still has the sexy new Chevrolet Camaro convertible on its stand in LA but the real feature is the Volt, the world's first workable range-extender hybrid. It has just won Car of the Year honours from the highly-rated Motor Trend magazine and people are queuing to buy one.

Some people are saying LA in 2010 is the start of the serious electrification of the automobile. Nissan and Mitsubishi are pushing their plug-ins, there is a car called the Coda that marries California and China for battery power, and the number of hybrids - from Porsche and Benz at the top end to a future Hyundai at the bottom - is serious and impressive.

But it's never over. Right now there are just over six weeks to the first major motor show of 2011, in Motown. The Detroit Motor Show is already shaping as the biggest and best for a decade, which is why Carsguide will be there.