LA Auto Show 2025: Chevrolet Tips Its Hand on Corvette’s Future

Dave Cruikshank here, your roving reporter for CorvetteBlogger. Last week, I covered the 2025 Los Angeles Auto Show and it was a fascinating mashup of cars, culture, and Tinseltown glitz. Every visit to Los Angeles gets me going; not only because it’s the heart of the entertainment and music industry, but its also the official barometer for all things automotive. You can feel it walking down the street, and the cars driving by; it’s that palpable.

Megalopolis of Southern California

Spanning roughly 500 square miles, LA is the largest city by land mass in the United States. Navigating its incredibly complex freeway system is an adventure in itself. My journey began in Temecula, about 75 miles south of LA, and took just over 90 minutes. Although traffic was surprisingly tame that day, it’s wise never to let your guard down—accidents are a frequent occurrence, and traffic snarls can last for hours. Even for a short jaunt in LA, Google Maps isn’t just helpful; it’s an essential lifeline.

The Big Show

The Los Angeles Convention Center is a huge glass and steel landmark built in 1971 and last expanded in 1997. It now boasts 867,000 square feet of exhibition space on the edge of Downtown LA. Navigating this place isn’t for the faint of heart, but I had been here before, so I knew what to expect. If you’re a newbie to this show, get acquainted with the Convention Center virtually; it will save you severe headaches during the show. I parked across Figueroa Avenue, the main artery in front of the Convention Center and headed into the hall, eager to see what automotive wonders awaited.

One of The Most Important Car Shows in the World

For those unaware of the importance of the LA Auto Show, consider this; all three Detroit automakers had elaborate displays at the event. GM and Ford don’t even show up to SEMA anymore, so their presence here underscores how crucial the Southern California market is to the Motor City titans.

Los Angeles was the beachhead for the import invasion in the 1970s and commensurately, the show is hugely important to the Japanese and Korean automakers. They turn out in full force to defend their market share here and although I’m not a fan, it’s essential to keep an open mind and see what the competition has up its sleeve.

Multiple languages can be heard wafting through the towering spaces not only from people all over the world, but the vast number of newcomers that call LA home. It made me think of John Rock, a former GM executive who ran Oldsmobile before it was euthanized. He was once asked to identify General Motors’ biggest foreign market; he replied bluntly, “Los Angeles.” We’re not in Kansas anymore, folks.

Ulterior Motive

The real reason I wanted to attend the 2025 show is I knew Chevrolet would bring its new Corvette CX Concept. If one reads the X as a Roman numeral, it translates to C10. Little did I know what awaited me at the inside of the show.

The Chevy display was huge and expertly curated, easily the best of the 2025 show. As I walked into this Bow Tie boutique, I saw the Corvette CX Concept. The silver starlet was winking at me as she twirled on a turntable under the sparkling lights. The clatter of the hall suddenly dimmed and time and space stood still, the car was that beautiful. It is a home run styling exercise, shapely and voluptuous, yet serious and brutal.

Uncanny Resemblance

I couldn’t help but think of the 1986 Indy Vette, 1990 CERV III Corvette, and 1987 Olds Aero Tech concepts from years gone by. After seeing the latest Corvette concept, the likeness of the CX and the aforementioned show cars was uncanny. In fact, these concepts are decades old and it was amazing how much Chevy’s latest concept borrows from them.

Upper Left – 1986 Indy Corvette Concept, Upper Right – 1990 CERV III Concept
Below Left – 1987 Olds Aero Tech Concept, Below Right – 1995 Corvette CX Concept
Photos: General Motors/Dave Cruikshank

New Era of GM Design

The Corvette CX Concept is also important for another key reason. This is the first salvo from new GM Design Chief Bryan Nesbitt, albeit with some overlap from outgoing styling head Michael Simcoe. Under Simcoe’s direction, the C8 took the form of a F16 fighter jet with multiple strakes, ducts and creased lines. It was quite an achievement, but now a tad long in tooth. A simpler form with fewer styling embellishments would be a nice counterpoint to the C8s angular lines.

Middle, gray beard – Michael Simcoe, Right – Bryan Nesbitt – Photo: AutoWorldJournal

Corvette CX-R Concept

The takeaway from CX’s LA debut is GM chose this design from its recent gaggle of concepts it showed this year. A sister car to the Detroit designed CX, the California Corvette, might have won the day had it been on display, but we suspect it was one of the victims of a massive EV fire at GMs Pasadena Advanced Design Studio that created it. Both concepts are so similar that whichever one was showcased, the design language is accurately being relayed. We can deduce that GM was leveraging the LA Auto Show for showgoer reaction to what might be a preview of the C9 Corvette’s styling.

California Corvette Concept – Photo Credit: Chevrolet

Remember, Corvette Chief Engineer Tony Roma is on record saying, “No electric Corvette in the foreseeable future,” yet the CX Concept begs to differ.

The CX uses a 90-kWh lithium-ion battery mounted inside the chassis and employs an all-wheel-drive electric propulsion system with four motors, one at each wheel. Chevy says the setup exceeds 2,000 hp with four-wheel torque and traction management. A single, canopy-style door opens to allow access to torch -red, fight deck interior.

An exterior air management system directs wind through the sculpted body channels to generate additional downforce, adjusting in real time and directing airflow out the rear diffuser.

We all know that an electric Corvette is a long way off, so petrol gearheads can rejoice, for now. Picture a gas powered C9 with the CX’s styling and I think we’re close to what’s coming,

The other stars of the show were the limited-edition Quail Silver ZR1X and a very nice orange Z06 with the gorgeous five spoke carbon fiber wheels. There were cutaway versions of the LT6 and LT7 V8s on display and both were essentially works of art. Never underestimate the scope and depth of Chevrolet Performance powertrain development.

What was conspicuously absent at the show was any murmur of the anticipated C8 Grand Sport model. Rumors have swirled about TREMEC’s manual gearbox debuting on this car, but sources close to us say that’s not going to happen. What’s more realistic is the Grand Sport debut of GMs next generation 6.6L V8 stuffed behind the seats, with around 550hp from the new, naturally aspirated V8 engine.

The heavy Corvette presence at the LA show is a very public demonstration of how important the car is to Chevrolet and that its future is bright and well-funded. We can’t wait to see the what’s next for America’s sports car and if we had a crystal ball, we’d say the C9 (or whatever it’s called) will debut in 2028 as a 2029 model and might borrow many design cues from the CX.

Until then, the 2025 LA Auto Show is in the history books now, and it was an amazing spectacle. We wanted to give shout out to GM and Chevrolet for easily being the star of this years show and to the promoters for really delivering a top notch event. See you next year!

Source/Credits
All LA Auto Show photos – Dave Cruikshank

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