{"id":15371,"date":"2009-11-20T11:42:47","date_gmt":"2009-11-20T16:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=15371"},"modified":"2009-11-20T11:46:26","modified_gmt":"2009-11-20T16:46:26","slug":"luxury-automakers-abandoning-la-auto-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2009\/11\/luxury-automakers-abandoning-la-auto-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Luxury Automakers Abandoning LA Auto Show"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"You<\/a>
You won't see the new 2010 Bentley Mulsanne at next month's LA Auto Show. A number of luxury makers have abandoned this year's event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite the fact that Southern California is the country\u2019s largest luxury market, a long list of premium automakers won\u2019t be displaying at the upcoming 2009 Los Angeles Motor Show.<\/p>\n

Among the manufacturers pulling out of the annual event are Bentley, Ferrari and Lamborghini, though LA show organizers note that a few of their traditional high-line brands will maintain a presence at Staples Center, along with several new luxury participants.<\/p>\n

\"Your<\/a>
Your Auto Show News Source!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBentley won\u2019t have a presence in LA,\u201d confirmed the British automaker\u2019s chief U.S. spokesman, Dave Reuter, adding that at a time when everyone is cutting budgets, Bentley is looking for \u201ca better use of our resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

An official with Ferrari echoed that point, noting that the Italian brand and its sibling marque, Maserati, have pulled out of Concours Hall, the high-visibility section of the convention center where most luxury brands have traditionally displayed their wares.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the economy.\u00a0 We\u2019re cutting back on a lot of things,\u201d the executive said, asking not to be identified by name.<\/p>\n

(For a preview of the 2009 LA Auto Show, Click Here<\/span><\/a>.)
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the final list of show participants could still change before December 2nd, when the event\u2019s press previews begin, it now appears that LA will also see a minimal presence by Aston Martin, with the company handing things over to its dealers to pull together a display.<\/p>\n

The decision to pull out of Los Angeles by such premium brands comes as a surprise to some observers, since the expansive L.A. metro area is such a big market for premium automobiles.\u00a0 And the more expensive the better.\u00a0 The U.S., on the whole, makes up half the market for Mercedes-Benz\u2019s premium AMG products.\u00a0 But Southern California alone accounts for 25% of total global AMG sales.<\/p>\n

But, \u201cwe just don\u2019t sell a lot of cars off the show floor\u201d in Los Angeles, noted an official with one of the brands pulling out of the show.<\/p>\n

Show organizers told TheDetroitBureau.com they\u2019re disappointed by not entirely surprised by the exodus, pointing to the impact the recession has had on the luxury car market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe premium market has been especially hard hit,\u201d noted Mark Templin, general manager of Toyota\u2019s Lexus luxury division \u2013 which is remaining in the show.\u00a0 The more expensive the car, on the whole, the worse the impact of the recession.<\/p>\n

Bentley sales, for example, are down by roughly half, in the States, while Lamborghini is off more than 40% for the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese makers are just being careful where they spend their money,\u201d acknowledged LA show spokesman Brendan Flynn.<\/p>\n

While some big names are leaving, a few key luxury marques are staying put, notably including Rolls-Royce and Porsche.\u00a0 And, noted Flynn, some new entrants into the high-end market are grabbing the space vacated in Concours Hall, including Spyker, the Dutch manufacturer of top-end sports cars, and Fisker Automotive, the California start-up that will launch production of its premium plug-in hybrid, the Karma, in 2010.<\/p>\n

(Click Here<\/span><\/a> for a Q&A with Henrik Fisker.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Click Here<\/span><\/a> for a Spyker Aileron Spyder test drive.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite the fact that Southern California is the leading market for luxury cars, a number of high-line automakers have decided to pull out of this year’s LA Auto Show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15371"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15371"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=15371"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=15371"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=15371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}