This years marks the 100th anniversary of the LA Auto Show. The organizers of the show have also decided to move the show to early November to try and beat Detroit to the punch. In the past manufacturers had to decide if they wanted to send the hottest one-off cars to either Detroit or LA, unfortunately for West Coasters, Detroit usually won out.
Moving the show from January to November means no more overlap in scheduling, and the earlier date than Detroit means that some companies would rather unveil cars in LA rather having to wait for the big show in January. This also allows manufacturers to target a very specific audience, getting to their core consumer. California and specifically Southern California is a huge market for the European Manufacturers. I would imagine that LA and Orange County probably contain more exotics than several entire states combined.
Audi R8 Video
This year Audi chose LA to unveil the TT Roadster, the R8 was also in attendance, a few examples were on hand, but the focus of their press conference was most definitely the drop-top TT. The R8 was definitely more stunning and more significant. While some will argue this point, it is Audi's first venture into supercar territory. While the new TT is a nice car, I don't think it has the impact the original TT had and the R8 will definitely do more for Audi's big comeback in the US Market.