Los Angeles auto show:US carmakers are hoping to put a gloss on a bleak domestic outlook at Los Angeles International Auto Show, says Donal Byrne
Executives from America's Big Three car manufacturers will be hoping to escape, however temporarily, the chilly economic winds of Detroit as they arrive in California today for the opening of the Los Angeles International Auto Show.
This being California, the show promises much in the way of greener technology, the latest in design innovation and quite a few world premieres, but escaping the realities of what looks like a real recession will be difficult.
The sub-prime mortgage crisis and the resulting slowdown in housing construction, rising oil prices and an overall lack of consumer confidence are costing the car companies dearly.
Some commentators are predicting that next year may end up on a par with 1997, which had one of the worst sales records in recent memory.
Sales of Ford cars have, for example, dropped some 13 per cent between the start of the year and last month. The company, along with General Motors, is in the process of shedding about 70,000 workers nationwide, and Chrysler has already signalled its intention to cut 24,000 jobs - a third of its workforce - over the next two years.
Poor sales and continued over-production have led companies into trying to move cars at almost any cost.
Subsidies, discounts, fleet and car hire sales have all been used to increase volume, but these in turn have pushed down trade-in values and caused damage to brand names.The European and Japanese influence in the American market has also hurt the main domestic manufacturers.
Almost a third of US sales are from non-American manufacturers which are, in turn, credited with keeping the industry afloat.
However, the Los Angeles show is determined to put as much of a gloss on the business as it can.
Most of the world's prestige carmakers are putting on concept and production cars they hope will encourage buyers. Ferrari's new 530 is here, as is Jaguar's replacement for the S-Type, the XF.
Honda is showing the two-door Remix, a car it says will be fast and fun but still green.
Several manufacturers will be announcing hybrid ventures, following Lexus into what has been - until now - sole territory for the Japanese manufacturer.
California is the most vociferous US state when it comes to demanding greener motoring; it is even suing the American environmental protection agency over emissions levels and the absence of legislation to reduce them significantly.
The local market here is a naturally green constituency, but carmakers also have to respond to European and other international demands.
Much of what is on show here is designed to forge greener credentials, but the Big Three car companies are still catering to local requirements too.
Big SUVs, trucks and big cars with big engines still feature prominently.
The Ford Mustang Bullitt, the car driven to prominence by Steve Mc Queen in the movie Bullit, has been re-launched to capitalise on the nostalgia for American icons.
It has, however, a 4.7-litre petrol engine with 315 horsepower and a corresponding thirst for already expensive petrol.
By contrast, Volkswagen will be showing its Tiguan concept compact SUV, which has an ultra-clean diesel engine, but plenty of power. It will go into production as a cleaner alternative to traditional SUVs and the timing could not be better.
"I just don't think enough American companies see outside their own internal market and they move slowly as a result," says one local commentator.
"No wonder the European and Japanese brands are doing so well."
We will have a full report from the LA show in Motors next week.