An Auto Show? No, Reality Show
THE future — as defined in auto show terms, anyway — has long seemed a nebulous automotive utopia of three to five years away.
The fabulous fuel-saving technologies, the mold-shattering designs, the unprecedented new cars the public is clamoring to buy have teased auto show attendees for decades, always just beyond reach.
But here at the 2009 Los Angeles auto show, a transformation of sorts seems to be under way. That fuzzy picture of a future we thought would never arrive is at last coming into focus.
“In 2006 only one automaker, Tesla Motors, had a production-intent electric car promised,” said Robert A. Lutz, General Motors’ vice chairman. “Just three years later, virtually every automaker has one in the works.”
Mr. Lutz, pinch-hitting for Fritz Henderson, who had been ousted just hours earlier from his position as G.M.’s chief executive, delivered the keynote address on Wednesday. After the speech, two days of media reviews began.
“We will one day look back on this time as a tipping point that enables the electrification of the automobile,” Mr. Lutz predicted.
Source: An Auto Show? No, Reality Show
The fabulous fuel-saving technologies, the mold-shattering designs, the unprecedented new cars the public is clamoring to buy have teased auto show attendees for decades, always just beyond reach.
But here at the 2009 Los Angeles auto show, a transformation of sorts seems to be under way. That fuzzy picture of a future we thought would never arrive is at last coming into focus.
“In 2006 only one automaker, Tesla Motors, had a production-intent electric car promised,” said Robert A. Lutz, General Motors’ vice chairman. “Just three years later, virtually every automaker has one in the works.”
Mr. Lutz, pinch-hitting for Fritz Henderson, who had been ousted just hours earlier from his position as G.M.’s chief executive, delivered the keynote address on Wednesday. After the speech, two days of media reviews began.
“We will one day look back on this time as a tipping point that enables the electrification of the automobile,” Mr. Lutz predicted.
Source: An Auto Show? No, Reality Show
