The eagerly anticipated Cadillac XT5 midsize luxury SUV and a reincarnation of the dashing Fiat 124 Spider convertible will lead dozens of new vehicles onstage at the Los Angeles auto show this week.
Other newcomers include the replacement for Buick’s staid LaCrosse large sedan and an oddity from Land Rover: the convertible Range Rover Evoque SUV.
The show in downtown L.A. begins with two days of news conferences Wednesday and Thursday, but news about vehicles and technologies will be breaking all week.
Festivities conclude Thursday with the naming of the Green Car of the Year, a prestigious award made even more intriguing in the wake of Volkswagen’s diesel scandal, which led to the disqualification of last year’s winner.
Despite the absence of the diesels VW and its associated Audi and Porsche brands can no longer sell, there will still be plenty of vehicles boasting high fuel economy and low emissions, including new versions of the Hyundai Elantra and Honda Civic coupe.
The Cadillac XT5 replaces the brand’s long-running SRX model and introduces the truck iteration of Cadillac’s new naming system. With the exception of the Escalade, SUVs will be called “XT” followed by numbers that rise with the vehicles’ size.
The XT5 is likely to become Cadillac’s best-selling model, thanks to surging popularity for midsize luxury SUVs in the U.S. and China, the two markets where GM will build and sell it starting next spring.
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