LA Auto Show, 2010

Cadillac Urban Luxury Concept (ULC)

'There is no minimum size for a Cadillac driving experience,' says Frank Saucedo, General Motors' Advanced Design Director in charge of Cadillac's new city car concept. Yes you heard that right. The classic US brand associated with big luxury sedans and SUVs revealed its pint-sized Urban Luxury Concept in LA. 115mm shorter than a Ford Fiesta and with a tiny electrically-assisted 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine under the bonnet, it’s nonetheless able to fit four adults inside a cabin of understated class using leather, carbon-colour wood inlays, aluminium accents and ceramics. Small doesn’t have to mean cheap. If feedback is good GM might even put it into production.

www.cadillac.com

A pint-size Cadillac, a 4x4 cabriolet and a virtual Maybach rickshaw were just some of the more unlikely debutants at 2010’s LA Auto Show, adding more weight to the growing argument that the California show is now the most daring and forward-thinking mainstream US car exhibition.

As the West Coast State is still the biggest sales market in the US, representing a tenth of the total North American market and more than 20 per cent of all hybrid sales, the LA Show is also the most important from a business and environmental perspective.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, 'sustainable luxe' was one of the key themes of the show as maker after maker showed smaller, more fuel-efficient but still luxurious concepts and production vehicles. 'Lightweight' was also very much part of this trend even among the bigger high-performance unveils from Porsche and Mercedes – less weight means less fuel and emissions required to move the car.

Fittingly, weight was also the brief to this year’s always-enlightening 'virtual' LA Design Challenge, an annual contest that encourage concept studios to push the boundaries of what a car can be.

All in all, the mood was good, and the 2010 LA Show was a far cry from the crumbling industry of just 2 years ago. Exhibitors were genuinely upbeat and there was innovation, interest and variety on display.

Mercedes CLS AMG

Even super-fast coupes feel the need to mention their relative eco credentials these days. The go-faster AMG version of the new CLS may smash 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds via its 5.5-litre V8 biturbo engine but stop/start technology, which cuts the engine when stuck in traffic, plus a host of other improvements mean the new car offers a whopping 34per cent improvement on fuel efficiency over the outgoing model. Oh and the slick interior features one of the coolest gear shifters in the world.

www.mercedes-benz.co.uk

Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet

Does the world need or even want an all-wheel drive crossover convertible? Nissan is convinced there’s a market and unveiled this four-seater ‘concept’ curiosity based on its existing large 4x4 Murano in LA. Even more shocking is that the car has already been signed off for production and goes on sale in early 2011. Could it be the first of many luxury beach buggies?

www.nissan.co.uk

Porsche Cayman R

55kg lighter than the Cayman S but with 10hp more power, the Cayman R is a great example of the lightweight trend. Lighter sportscars tend to go faster and handle more crisply and the R is no exception. With Porsche’s seven-speed dual clutch PDK system 0-62mph comes around in just 4.7 seconds, nearly half a second quicker than the Cayman S. On sale in the UK in February from £51,731.

www.porsche.com

Range Rover Evoque five-door

Another example of the small luxe trend sees the 4x4 brand launch its smallest five-door production vehicle ever. Hot on the heels of the three-door shown at the Paris motorshow, the Evoque five-door has the same stylish modern trimmings that global consumers demand in a high-end vehicle but with the practicality of two extra doors and slightly more rear passenger room. Also available in two-wheel drive, it promises greatly reduced energy consumption and emissions (at best sub-135g/km CO2). Has 'sales hit' written all over it.

www.landrover.com

Saab 9-4X Crossover

The second car in the re-birth of leftfield Swedish brand Saab and an important milestone in its road to recovery. The 9-4X crossover is pretty much Saab’s take on the Audi Allroad and was not a bad looking vehicle and package. On sale in left-hand drive markets by the summer of 2011 and right-hand drive markets by the end of the year.

www.saab.com

LA Design Challenge

Now in its seventh year, this fantastic virtual-only competition pits the wits of the best car designers on the West Coast (and this year from around the world too) to meet future-facing design tasks with innovation and imagination. 2010’s brief was to design a 1000lb (454kg) car capable of carrying four passengers in style.

One of most interesting concepts and another small luxe idea – from Mercedes’ Japanese studio – was the human-electric powered rickshaw Maybach DRS concept (pictured here). Described by Maybach’s overall head of design Gorden Wagener “as a running Fabergé egg,” it envisions see-through panels that create a gold lattice effect via electric current passed through them, with an onboard computer that can be 'plugged' into a future mega-city transport infrastructure. On top of that, it can even be supplemented by human driver pedal power.