Car aficionados marveled at engines while others took the driver’s seat last week at the 54th annual Orange County International Auto Show, the eighth-largest car show in the country.
The four-day event took place at the Anaheim Convention Center and featured more than 600 vehicles for the 2019 model year, including electric, hybrid, crossovers and SUVs from 35 manufacturers.
A number of OC automakers were on hand, including Mazda North American Operations, Kia Motors North America, and Hyundai Motor North America and its luxury brand Genesis.
One notable local absentee was Irvine-based luxury hybrid carmaker Karma Automotive. Another no-show was Palo Alto-based Tesla.
This year visitors were treated to a new indoor off-road track to test Jeep and Ram Trucks 4×4 vehicles—further expanding the show’s offering to test-drive more than 150 vehicles from 17 manufacturers.
Crowds watched from the sidelines as a professional driver on Jeep’s custom track took passengers up an 18-foot, 35-degree hill in a tricked-out Wrangler Rubicon.
“The ride and drive is such an important part of our show because it gives consumers the opportunity to come and see all the cars in one place,” said John Sackrison, executive director of the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association, which owns and hosts the show.
Visitors typically spend nearly four hours at the event, which spans 14 football fields, according to Sackrison.
He added that brands like Jaguar and Land Rover—which are rolling out new electric vehicles—hosted test drives for the first time.
Jaguar has recently been busy educating area dealers and potential buyers about its I-Pace, the first electric Jaguar SUV. It set up shop at the Irvine Marriott for several weeks this past summer, showing off the new fleet.
Local Presence
Mazda Senior Manager of Brand Experience and Auto Shows Ron Miks said the OC event plays an important role for his company, that it takes up larger space with a more robust display compared to its presence in comparable-sized markets.
“It’s our local show, and being a local business, we like to support the area,” he said.
“A typical philosophy with auto shows was cars on carpet—it was all about the product. We evolved our philosophy to also educate our customers about who Mazda is as a company and what our values are, so it’s not just about comparing gas mileage and legroom.”
Warning Signs?
The show started the same week U.S. automakers reported lower year-over-year September sales.
Nearly all of the OC automakers reported a drop for the month, from nearly 2% for Kia to as high as 76% for Genesis, which in March announced a reorganization of its dealer network beginning next year.
The only exception to the report was Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motors, whose sales rose 3% year-over-year.
Sackrison said the organization is already preparing for next year’s show. Work for the 2019 edition started about six months ago.
He said the goal is to continually improve and add features to get visitors through the doors of the convention center, highlighting its “SoCal Work Truck Show” that entered its third year.
The commercial truck showcase is a market Sackrison sees “growing exponentially.”
“You can learn a tremendous amount [about a car] on the internet, but you have to sit in a vehicle and see how it fits and how it’s laid out,” he said. “This is people’s second-largest purchase. People want to do the research, and seeing them all in one place is the big draw.”
