Pub. 1 Issue 1

They were drawn by improving auto sales and the multiple news angles. Most notably, the 50 debuts were criti- cal to this heightened media interest. The significance of the debuts, includ - ing many volume sellers like the new Ford Escape and Honda CR-V as well as potential hot sellers such as the Ca- dillac XTS, Mazda CX-5 and Infiniti JX Crossover, ensured broad coverage by major consumer media outlets. There was also a wealth of other sto - ries, including emerging technologies, improved fuel economy and advanced safety features which piqued the inter - est of media ranging from highly spe - cialized consumer technology verticals to national broadcast media. Taking advantage of Southern Cali - fornia’s reputation a hotbed of design and technology, the Show’s location also served as an ideal platform for innovation, as nearly every manufac - turer displayed their latest in-car tech features. Moreover, major broadcast media couldn’t get enough news about advanced safety measures designed to avoid and prevent accidents. Improved fuel economy was also a big story this year with virtually every auto- maker touting its solution for making ve - hicles run cleaner and use less fuel. Even high-performance vehicle debuts deliv - ered vast fuel efficiency improvements over previous generations. All this news helped drive consumer attendance, which grew to more than 920,000 attendees.  “Whether you agree or not, Los Angeles is still the epicenter of car culture. Detroit may be the Motor City, but L.A. is really where reputations are made or broken. And like the city itself, the L.A. Auto Show is getting busier, more crowded and harder to navigate each year.” EDMUNDS INSIDE LINE November, 2011 Media Attendance Grows by More Than 15% O verall Press Day’s attendance reached its peak level ever, high- lighted by a 50 percent growth in international media. Consequently, the result - ing media coverage set new records as well. The increased glitz and glamour and appear- ances by such Hollywood “A” listers as Pat- rick Dempsey andMission: Impossible 4 star Paula Patton also brought out the national entertainment media like E!, Access Holly- wood, The Hollywood Reporter and others. More than 200 national TV segments aired, representing a nearly 20 percent increase over last year. Major national network TV segments alone grew from 18 last year to more than 40, in - cluding ABC, NBC, FOX, FOX Business, CNN, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and more. Local TV coverage grew by nearly 70 per- cent over the previous record year and over- all affiliate TV coverage continues to grow year over year. Print coverage in the major dailies also grew, led by the L.A. Times, which delivered more auto coverage than it has in decades. L.A. Times readers turned to show coverage more than 2.2 million times. Coverage in USA Today , New York Times and the Wall Street Journal also grew to record- selling levels. Broadcast and print coverage in diverse U.S. communities, including the Korean, Chinese and Hispanic populations, grew dramati- cally, including more than 15 segments on Telemundo and Univision national alone.  Patrick Dempsey adds star power to Mazda’s unveiling of its all new CX-5 crossover. C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 7 8