From November 22nd to December 1st, the Los Angeles Convention Center hosted the annual L.A. Auto Show, unveiling over 50 cars with more than 20 world debuts. The auto show will consist of a vast spectrum of cars, ranging from the old 1960s Chevrolet Corvettes to the new 2014 Porsche Macan, the newest car in the Porsche line-up.

Students expressed their anticipations about this event, as Julie Dao (11) stated she expected “entry-level sports cars and facelifts of vehicles that have been stretching out their same look for way too long, for example the Mercedes Benz GL63 AMG, a car that has looked the same for over 20 years.” Others like Tim Herron (11) are expecting “hybridized and electric vehicles in specifically the luxury brands especially in BMW, Audi, etc; brands that haven’t been producing any sort of eco-friendly cars unlike Chevrolet, Honda, Toyota, etc.”

All of these wishes have been granted, as Audi has brought the Audi A-3 E-tron, a luxurious rebadged version of the Volkswagen e-Golf, and other brands such as BMW brought the vehicle displayed in Mission Impossible, the BMW i8. This year in the auto show they displayed a wide array of both expensive six figure vehicles, and many entry-level luxurious and average cars.  In the sports car segments, very few affordable sports cars were debuted, only the Subaru WRX sedan (priced at 25-26k), the Hyundai Veloster R-Spec hatchback (priced at 20-23k), KIA Forte KOUP coupe (priced at under 25k), and the Volkswagen GLi (priced at 25k).

However, the typical sedans and coupes in the affordable segment were especially well-received among the cheering crowd. The new Infiniti Q30 (priced under $30k) and the widely anticipated luxurious Audi A3 (priced at $29,990) with the base model already booming with features such as leather seats, panoramic roof, heated seats, and etc. became the center of attention. Some other revolutionary vehicles were featured, such as the Honda FCEV (Fuel Cell Vehicle), the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell, two of which will be the first fuel cell vehicle on the market.

With the advent of the affordable yet great cars, the LA Autoshow seems to have captured the minds of many car-lovers, as well as West High students. When asked especially about the affordable entry-level vehicles marketed towards young teenagers, Nick Calderon (10) says, “we’ll be expecting a pretty nice line up in 2014.” The upcoming year will bring promising new vehicles to our sights.