A view out over part of the cavernous South Hall.
Jonathan Gitlin
A view out over part of the cavernous South Hall. Jonathan Gitlin
Hyundai’s Augmented Reality owners manual was one of the few things we saw that really blew us away. It was a great way to harness consumer technology.
Jonathan Gitlin
Hyundai’s Augmented Reality owners manual was one of the few things we saw that really blew us away. It was a great way to harness consumer technology. Jonathan Gitlin
The Augmented Reality owners manual uses a smartphone (iOS or Android) to show owners what all the different stuff under the hood does and teach how to perform basic maintenance tasks.
Jonathan Gitlin
The Augmented Reality owners manual uses a smartphone (iOS or Android) to show owners what all the different stuff under the hood does and teach how to perform basic maintenance tasks. Jonathan Gitlin
BMW’s new 7 Series is dripping with new technology, as you would expect for the company’s flagship sedan.
Jonathan Gitlin
The 7 Series cabin. You can control some of iDrive’s functions with gesture control (detected by a sensor above the center stack). The dash also has an NFC sensor for smartphones.
Jonathan Gitlin
The 7 Series key. It lets you control some of the car remotely and charges wirelessly in a cubby between the front seats (you can also wirelessly charge your smartphone too).
Jonathan Gitlin
Back seat passengers in the 7 Series get a tablet to control their environment. It’s a Samsung Android tablet that charges and communicates wirelessly.
Jonathan Gitlin
BMW’s X5 xDrive40e is a hybrid SUV. It marries a 240hp (178kW) 2L turbo gasoline engine with a 111hp (83kW) electric motor.
Jonathan Gitlin
Audi’s new Virtual Cockpit is extremely clever. It uses NVIDIA Tegra chips to display a full-dash Google Map display in real time. Oh, and it’s a retina display. You can read a lot more about it this weekend in our forthcoming Audi TT review.
Jonathan Gitlin
The new Q7 SUV is Audi’s technology flagship. Among improvements to the MMI infotainment system is this trackpad. It has handwriting recognition and an extremely satisfying clicking action when you use the buttons along the sides.
Jonathan Gitlin
This is the 400hp (299kW) hybrid powertrain for the Volvo XC90 T8. We spent a very brief time driving this car earlier this year, and we can’t wait to get one for a proper review in 2016.
Jonathan Gitlin
Volvo also had this rather clever child seat on display. Although it’s currently for the XC90, it should be available across the entire range eventually.
The Mazda CX-9 SUV has a rather clever 2.5L turbocharged direct injection gasoline engine and three rows of seats.
Jonathan Gitlin
Honda’s Clarity hydrogen fuel car made its US debut at this year’s LA Auto Show. It’s a better looker than Toyota’s Mirai fuel cell car, we think.
Jonathan Gitlin
Honda also took the wraps off the new Civic Coupe.
Jonathan Gitlin
Lincoln unveiled its new MKZ sedan, which ditches the old chrome mustache for a new Jaguar-like front grill.
The new Toyota Prius has been dividing opinion with its appearance.
Toyota also had the new RAV4 hybrid on display at LA.
Jonathan Gitlin
Jaguar brought the F-Pace SUV to LA for its US launch.
Jonathan Gitlin
Still reeling from the dieselgate scandal, VW’s Beetle Dune offers a rugged take on the bubble-shaped car.
Jonathan Gitlin

LOS ANGELES—The LA Auto Show got underway this week with press preview days on Wednesday and Thursday. It was a relatively low-key show this year, with only a few cars blowing our socks off with excitement. We’ll have multiple reports from our time at the show, following this post with a roundup of the coolest concepts and customs and another with the sporty stuff that got Cars Technica’s pulse racing. But to start, we’re going to highlight the whole reason we attended the LA Auto Show in the first place—we wanted to see the industry’s most interesting technology up close. In this light, even some new production cars piqued our interest.

Particular highlights include the really clever use of augmented reality by Hyundai with its new owner’s manual, the BMW 7 Series which features gesture control, wireless charging for your smartphone, and a host of other cool features, and the latest version of Audi’s MMI infotainment system and Virtual Cockpit in its Q7 SUV.

Hybrid SUVs were in abundance at the show, including the Volvo XC90, BMW X5 xDrive40e, and a hybrid Toyota RAV4. Unlike last year’s LA Auto Show (or the 2015 NYIAS for that matter), there felt like much less emphasis on fuel cell vehicles—though Honda did bring its new Clarity fuel cell sedan.

Come back tomorrow for our take on the best concepts and custom cars on display. And if you happen to be in Los Angeles, you can visit the show until Sunday, November 29.