This week was quite odd for the automotive industry and oddly devoid of major/interesting novelties as automakers prepare for Tokyo's Japan Mobility Show and North America's Los Angeles Auto Show.
My usual review of the week's novelties has been derailed on this occasion. That's because the carmakers took some time off to prepare for the fall's most meaningful events – the inaugural edition of the Japan Mobility Show that acts as the overarching successor to the iconic Tokyo Motor Show and still happens at the end of October/beginning of November at Tokyo Big Sight.
Over there, BMW is among the few outsiders to present their novelties – the iX2 – while otherwise, JMS is a major show of force from the Japanese carmakers. Everyone has novelties, from the smallest to the greatest, and I'm happy to see a 'traditional' automotive event gain such traction among carmakers. Plus, I really hope that Toyota will give us a pleasant compact body-on-frame SUV surprise with the 'Land Hopper.'
Back in America, already some automakers are gearing up for the Los Angeles Auto Show that will take place at the LA Convention Center from November 17 to 26 – Toyota has teased what looks like the successor to the current Camry if we are to judge by the ninth generation XV80 hints. Lucid Motors is also finally ready to haunt the nightmares of Tesla Model X executives and offer an excellent alternative, just like it does with Lucid Air as a direct rival for the Tesla Model S.
Given that the only noteworthy novelties were 2024MY updates, I will just skim through them in a hurry. So, Kia is bringing additional variants for the 2024 EV6 in a bid to catch the Tesla Model Y off-guard in terms of pricing and range. If anyone is interested, the 2024 Genesis G70 sport sedan is packing a more powerful inline-four and better brakes. In turn, the Infiniti QX50 has become pricier for 2024MY but doesn't bring anything new to the CUV party.
Apparently, the 2024 Ford Maverick is finally in production at the Hermosillo plant in Mexico, but this best-seller doesn't need many changes to continue to dominate the Hyundai Santa Cruz. The latter company has announced a special Ioniq 5 Disney100 Platinum Edition to celebrate the House of the Mouse and its century-old lifestyle, while the rumor mill is also talking about a more interesting EV – the Rivian R1 refresh allegedly bringing improved aerodynamics and a Plaid-rivaling 1,000+ hp 'Ascent' version.
Volkswagen, still alive and well in America, has introduced the Atlas or Atlas Cross Sport with Basecamp goodies, and the 2024 Nissan Rogue is among the few models standing out for the new model year with a proper mid-cycle facelift that brings improved looks and access to Google built-in when selecting one of the higher trims. Otherwise, it's all about pricier new model year cars and SUVs – from the 2024 Lexus IS to the 2024 Toyota Crown and anything in between. Boring, right?
As such, please excuse me for yawning and falling asleep with my head on the keyboard, even though I didn't spend the night out. Well, at least the dream-like state allowed me to select a trio of sports-car favorites plus an off-road wildcard from across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. Over there, David Scott Neal II, a Senior Industrial Designer known on social media as nemojunglist, came up with a couple of two-door sports cars that would make anyone adopt the EV lifestyle at a moment's notice.
Recently, his first CGI order of business was to cook a revived Lexus LFA supercar, this time with the looks of something that could transform into a land missile featuring an EV powertrain worthy of rivaling the Rimac Nevera and Lotus Evija hypercars. After that, probably because he liked the two-door coupe attitude, he also imagined a Hyundai Ioniq N Sport Coupe that could easily exist in the real world with the Ioniq 5 N's dual-motor N Grin Boost powertrain and 601 horsepower.
So, which one would look great in your garage? Anyway, suppose you love the two-door attitude but feel that just two seats aren't enough. In that case, there's also an independent Bugatti project from Sehun Park (aka sehuncar on social media) that was brought to my attention by the good folks over at Car Design Trends. It's called Bugatti Starlight EV and has four seats, a crazy opening style for the two doors, and a hyper-EV powertrain that would probably let it run circles around the Koenigsegg Gemera, its closest rival from the real world.
Last but not least, I also noticed Francesco Artusato's latest idea that would bring pride to his franart_design label if ever real – the Lamborghini Airado LM006, an all-terrain off-road concept that is part a bonkers interpretation of the Urus and part spiritual successor for the iconic LM002. If you ask me about the choice from all these stunning digital creations, I would easily make the Ioniq N Sport Coupe my daily driver while the weekends would be filled with trail craziness on board that out-of-this-world LM006 concept SUV.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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