The Los Angeles Auto Show is 109 years old, but format changes in recent years have demonstrated that the show and its new management team is ever-ready to reinvent itself and evolve with the times.
The Connected Car Expo launched in 2013 during press days, and by last year had expanded so much that it outgrew its presence within the Los Angeles Convention Center South Hall Lobby, moving to the JW Marriott with nearly double the real estate. For this year's November show, the press days will once again reformat—this time to become a new trade show that integrates all the blurred lines between technology and transportation in the modern auto industry.
ANSA Productions, which owns and operates the show, announced that it will be combining L.A. Auto Show press and trade days with the four-year-old Connected Car Expo to form the four-day pre-show event now known as AutoMobility L.A. It’s the culmination of a five-year effort to evolve the show’s press and trade days into a bona fide trade show unto itself, designed exclusively for the modern industry landscape. The event will continue to bring together the new marketplace that includes automakers, tech companies, designers, developers, start-ups, investors, dealers, government officials, analysts, and others.
Unlike shows such the Consumer Electronics Show and South by Southwest, AutoMobility will specifically target the new auto industry landscape. And signs indicate there’s a need for such a show in the marketplace: Major manufacturers have dropped out of the New York Auto Show to sign up with the likes of C.E.S., and the new L.A. show has already seen significant buy-in from automakers. Industry leaders are already signed on for announcements and engagements, including Ford Motor Company C.E.O. and president Mark Fields, who will deliver the keynote.
"For years, we’ve been at the epicenter of the changing automotive industry, creating a setting for some of the largest partnerships such as that between General Motors and Lyft,” said AutoMobility L.A. and L.A. Auto Show president and C.E.O. Lisa Kaz in a release. “We’re excited to continue to connect brands, whether established or start-up, with influential people and provide engaging experiences with the world’s leading companies.”
AutoMobility L.A. is slated for November 14 through 17 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It will include the Technology Pavilion, a new 50,000-square-foot building with room to accommodate double the auto-tech exhibits than last year’s version of the event. The AutoMobility schedule will encompass four days of networking, three days of press conferences, and two days of education. It will also feature more than 50 world and North American product debuts over the course of the show. Nearly 25,000 attendees are expected.
Following the new event, the L.A. Auto Show will continue with its public days, as it has for well over a century. The public show is slated for November 18 through 27.
