All The Most Interesting Cars At The LA Auto Show Are Crossovers, And That's A Good Thing

It’s probably been a long time since someone has said this, but the new Nissan Murano was my favorite car at the auto show. The Murano has honestly always been a looker, and the new fourth-gen model is back to being a cutting-edge design. Its kinda weird, definitely distinctive face has Nissan’s slimmest headlights ever, and I really love the fender flare treatment and the criss-crossing D-pillar. Nissan is on a bit of a roll lately, having debuted other great-looking new models like the Kicks, Armada and Ariya, and the Murano is the best one yet, I think.

While technically just a concept and not a new one either (though this was my first time seeing it in person), Genesis’ high-performance GV60 Magma show car looks basically production-ready. Styling changes like new bumpers, wider fenders and a big wing make the already attractive GV60 look mean as hell, and it’s awesome to see Genesis taking performance so seriously. The GV60 will be the first Magma model to reach production at the end of next year.

Cadillac doesn’t have much of a presence at the show this year, but it does have an Escalade IQ on display, which has more than enough presence to offset the rest of the boring display. I wasn’t sure about the electric ‘lade in photos, but in person it really works. It’s as gigantic as you’d hope an Escalade would be, with a ton of interesting design details. I can’t wait to get in one of these as an Uber.

Honda’s new Passport is its most off-road-capable SUV ever, and its boxy styling certainly fits that bill. I think this is Honda’s best design in years, especially in TrailSport trim as you see here. Honda even brought back the removable picnic table!

My colleague may have called it hideous, but I love the Ioniq 5's new XRT trim level. The textured black bumpers and fenders are so silly, especially when paired with the red tow hooks and all-terrain tires, but I think it works. I’m driving a Mustang Mach-E Rally right now, and the chunky rubber, raised ride height and rear-biased powertrain make it a total hoot on LA city streets. Yeah, the Ioniq 5 XRT will be better off-road than a normal one, but I’m more excited for how much better it’ll be in the city, too.

The Kia EV9 is already one of the best large crossovers you can buy, and the 2026 EV9 GT version adds a nice dose of performance. This thing’s got 501 horsepower and an electronically controlled suspension, plus some of the best sport seats I’ve ever seen in an SUV.

A twin of the EV9, Hyundai finally unveiled the electric Ioniq 9 this week, and I think it’s spectacular. Despite having even more interior space than the Kia, the Ioniq 9's boat-tail body and sloping roofline give it a super slippery drag coefficient of just 0.269, which helps every trim level achieve a range of over 300 miles no matter the powertrain setup — so there’s no real penalty for going for the most powerful one.

Okay, it’s not exactly a crossover, but I think the ID Buzz deserves to be on this list if only because everyone refused to stop talking about it. I don’t just mean my fellow journalists — designers, engineers and PR folk from competitor brands all gushed over how good the Buzz looks and how nice of a package it seems to be.

It’s not a hugely substantial refresh, but the 2025 Kia EV6 now has a much more interesting front end, even cooler wheel designs and a nicer interior with a lot of new welcome tech features. Like its Ioniq 5 sibling the EV6 will now be built in America, and it gets the Tesla-style NACS charger as standard.

You might think the Hyundai Initium is just some concept car flight of fancy, but it directly previews the next-gen Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell crossover, and it’ll influence other future Hyundai designs. Sure, the Initium’s back end invited plenty of Aztek comparisons, but at least everyone agreed the Hyundai looks much better. There’s a lot of cool stuff going on with the Initium’s surfacing and lights, and judging from spy shots of the Nexo, the production model will look basically identical.

Another car that’s not technically a crossover, but it’s basically just an Escape with a bed, so I’m counting it. Ford is bringing the compact street truck back with the new Maverick Lobo, which just looks plain awesome. How can you not love something with rally-style wheels like this? The Lobo isn’t just an appearance package either, it has actual mechanical modifications to the powertrain and chassis. Hell yeah.