Hybrids, Big BEVs, Highlight LA Auto Show

LOS ANGELES – There are no flashy reveals at this year’s Los Angeles auto show, but automakers are still trying to put their best foot, or tires, forward with new and refreshed models aimed at growing the electrified fleet.

There aren’t cool concept cars from the big automakers, though the West Coast Customs Hall does have some amusing and slick customized vehicles on display for those with multiple-bay garages.

Several overall themes are apparent at this year’s show, however, and they reflect the growing choice consumers have in choosing their powertrain, body style and even interior of their next vehicle.

Hybrids Are In

Despite all the hand-wringing about automakers abandoning formerly aggressive BEV plans, this being California there were plenty of BEVs at the show. But a different electrified powertrain had a bigger presence – the traditional hybrid.

Most consumers today have familiarity with hybrids, owing to the Toyota Prius phenomenon that began a quarter century ago. Once viewed as pokey sacrifices to try an improve fuel economy, today’s crop of new hybrids have real pop under the hood.

Hybrid “it is not a dirty word anymore,” Rebecca Lindland, an independent auto industry advisor, tells WardsAuto. “You aren’t compromising when you buy a hybrid anymore.”

In Los Angeles, brands from Porsche to Jeep to Kia and Volkswagen touted their existing or planned hybrid offerings.

Porsche Downtown LA stood in for the manufacturer and held a press conference trumpeting Porsche’s addition of two hybrid models and its the Macan 4 BEV.

Jeep’s new CEO, Antonio Filosa, announced Jeep will add a hybrid model in 2025 that will replace the compact Cherokee CUV. “We have the right products coming to market at the right time,” he says.

Kia introduced the 2026 Sportage with gasoline, turbo hybrid, and turbo plug-in hybrid powertrains.

Though VW Brand CEO Thomas Schafer says that the company's customers and dealers are asking for hybrids "loud and clear,” the automaker bucked the hybrid trend in its launch of the 2025 Tiguan CUV. A hybrid version won’t be available in the U.S. until later in the CUV’s cycle, and will be joined by a hybrid Atlas SUV. That may hurt the German brand in the short term as it attempts to grow its U.S. market share.

“Some automakers are (offering hybrid powertrains) faster than others, but fundamentally automakers who are not offering hybrids in their respective segments are likely to find very quickly they are at a competitive disadvantage,” says Ed Kim, president and chief analyst of AutoPacific.

Electrics for Soccer Moms – and Dads

Hyundai introduces the 2026 Ioniq 9, a family-size 3-row pure electric SUV.

The BEV is “exactly what 3-row SUV buyers are looking for, it just happens to be electric,” Hyundai North America CEO Jose Munoz says during the automaker’s press conference.

Making the most of its E-GMP electric-vehicle platform, the Hyundai Group’s Kia brand also introduced its high-performance 2026 EV9 GT three-row electric SUV at the LA Show. Kia America COO Steve Center calls it a “Dad’s soccer car.”

Perhaps fitting at a show in the state with most BEVs on the road in the country – pure electric vehicles accounted for 22.2% of new vehicle registrations in the first nine months of the year in California, according to the California New Car Dealers Association – Jeep, not a brand usually associated with BEVs, touted its first one, a 3-row SUV.

The Wagoneer S is an electric Grand Cherokee with 600 hp and 303 miles (483 km) of range. “It can go far, and it can go fast,” William Coughlin, Jeep brand product marketing director, tells WardsAuto. The SUV is due this year at a starting price of $71,995 including destination, says Couglin.

Demand for the Wagoneer S will depend on how Jeep positions the vehicle, says Kim. “It’s a very different product for the Jeep brand,” he says. “It is a street Jeep; it’s not about the outdoors.”

Improvements in battery technology enable big 3-row BEVs, says Lindland, but  she’s not sure there will be a huge demand. When a soccer mom can’t pick up their child because they need to spend 30 minutes charging, that can be a turnoff, she says. “It is the perception of the exception.”

Attention to Interiors

Premium-feeling interiors are now de rigueur, whether in a luxury or mass-market vehicle.

“People want nice stuff,” Kia’s Center tell WardsAuto. “People want the interior to be comfortable and functional and luxurious.”

The 2025 Kia EV6, for example, has a “more premium” cabin environment, says Eric Watson, vice president, sales operations for Kia America. That includes more sophisticated interior textures and new infotainment features including a Wi-Fi hotspot.

“Automotive interiors years ago were an afterthought,” says Center. “Now there is kind of a renaissance in design. As the price of the car continues to climb, another way to justify the price is to make the interior nicer.”

That includes cars usually associated with the rugged outdoors.

The Jeep Wagoneer S has over 45 ins. (114 cm) of screen in its instrument cluster, 64 options of ambient color lighting and heated front and rear seats. Personalized front seat settings include a massage.

2025 VW Tiguan features luxury-level interior, awash in ambient lighting.

The 2025 VW Tiguan, a middle-of-the road CUV, has seat massagers, real-wood trim and mood-specific ambient lighting. Quilted leather seats add to the comfortable mood.

This year’s LA Auto Show “reflected the fact automakers are absolutely placing a lot of emphasis on their interiors,” says Kim. “Interiors are really important. That is where you spend your time with your car.” And that time can now be spent in a soothing purple or blue wash of light.