Lots and lots of stuff, courtesy of a WSJ.com notebook that includes reports from the WSJ, Marketwatch, Dow Jones and AP (hope the locals keep up the pace). Among the highlights:
-Italian super luxury carmaker Lamborghini shows off the Murcielago Roadster LP640, which has a more powerful 12-cylinder engine that goes from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in 3.4 seconds. CEO Stephan Winkelman says the number of people who can afford such luxury is growing (there's a 12-month waiting list for most models).
-Honda has a concept car called the Step Bus that features a "bulletin board" dash for posting notes or maps. The vehicle looks like a miniature bus and holds five passengers. It's aimed at young urbanites.
-Ford's 2008 Escape comes with a touch-screen navigation system, an iPod jack, Sirius satellite radio and a console capable of holding a lap top (multimedia-equipped cars appear to be the rage).
-On the hybrid front, GM CEO Rick Wagoner promises that Saturn will deliver the first plug-in hybrid, though he didn't give a date. John Mendel, Honda's senior vice president for automobile operations in the U.S., says that automaker will introduce "limited marketing" of a fuel-cell vehicle as early as 2008.
-For the seventh straight year, silver is the most popular color among car-buyers world-wide (though South Koreans apparently like their compact cars in red).
-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa opened the show telling GM Chairman Wagoner that "if you want to move GM to Los Angeles, we have a deal for you." Wagoner joked that he hesitates to say what a great city L.A. is because "given the mayor's remarks, people may read more into that."
-At its party Tuesday night, Volkswagon featured rapper Ludacris, who turned out to be much more of a draw than its Tiguan, a concept SUV. The guest list included Christian Slater, Nicky Hilton and Michael Moore.
-Buick pitchman Tiger Woods was asked what he thought of Wagoner's golf game. "Interesting," he said with a smile. "I'll leave it at that."
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