LA Auto Show and the future of cars
How automobiles shaped our society and a speed read of classic road books
Welcome to This Week, Those Books, your rundown on books new and old that resonate with the week’s big news story.
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Yours,
The Big Story:
The Los Angeles Auto Show, one of the biggest on the global motoring calendar for 116 years, is underway but with fewer new models. Like Detroit, once America’s leading motor event, LA and other auto shows face an uncertain future. By some accounts, so does their signature product. The car is driving into difficult terrain. Consider this:
- Anti-car policies have been gaining ground in many cities around the world, notably London, Paris, Milan, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, New York, Oklahoma City, Lancaster (California), Singapore, New Delhi, Kampala, Addis Ababa and Kigali.
- In America, the country most shaped by the car, fewer teens in the 16 to 19 age group have driving licenses.
- Concerns about climate change and pollution are spurring many people, particularly the young, to campaign against car-focussed development. Other reasons include the rise of online shopping, home film streaming, precarious employment, ride-sharing apps and car-sharing fleets.
- The automotive industry’s future is now thought to lie in electric vehicles (EVs), self-driving cars (AVs) and even flying cars that don’t require a pilot’s licence.
The Backstory:
- The car has had a good run since Carl Benz invented his “horseless carriage” in Mannheim, Germany in 1885.
- The Paris Motor Show, the first in the world, started in 1898.
- In America, meanwhile, by 1898, more than 100 companies were getting ready to manufacture automobiles.
- The Ford Motor Company, founded in 1903, led the automobile revolution with its affordable Model T.
- By the mid-1920s, America was a country on wheels. That same year also saw the emergence of the great European producers – Austin, Morris and Singer in England, Fiat in Italy, and Citroën in France.
- After World War II, many American cities replaced their walkable neighbourhoods with highways, parking lots and car-centric infrastructure. It became an urban design template for many parts of the world.
This Week, Those Books:
- A riveting survey of how cars shaped our society.
- A loving look at the significance of the automobile.
- Three road books featuring cars.
