By Hyunjoo Jin

LOS ANGELES (Reuters). What a difference 2 years makes. Los Angeles’ 2019 auto show saw a parade featuring vehicle debuts and a frenzy of press conferences. There were also hundreds of thousands eager to view new vehicles.

We are now in 2021. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Auto Show began, marking the beginning of the United States’ first major auto show.

It shows how automakers have shifted to the web as more consumers purchase vehicles via the internet. However, most people still prefer visiting the dealership in person.

On Friday, the LA Auto Show officially opened its doors to the public. The show will be open for 10 days. While a small crowd waited to see the exhibition hall doors open, visitors spread themselves out in convention halls.

Peter Borch flew from Denmark in order to view Fisker’s electric utility vehicle Ocean.

Borch (52), said that the size of the Ocean is larger than in the photograph. He used all his pension money to purchase it, and will begin deliveries later next year.

Dustin Haug (47), a Los Angeles construction manager, stated, “It’s nothing like actually seeing a car in person. Touching, feeling, and touching.”

David Fortin from Los Angeles Auto Show’s consumer marketing department told Reuters that online reservations are still behind 2019 levels but that they have “strong enough to ensure that we will have a fantastic year.”

Honda and BMW skipped this show for separate events. Honda displayed a replica of its famous Integra prototype sedan during a Los Angeles livestreamed event about one week before.

This was an exclusive event. “We find we don’t need to compete like other people on press days at an auto show in order to attract the attention,” Honda vice president Dave Gardner said to Reuters during a Zoom interview.

Korean automaker Kia shared a similar opinion.

“The pandemic has shown us how we can do things differently. … “There will still be auto shows in the future but there’ll also be different types of presentations,” Karim Haibib, chief of Kia Design Center told Reuters during the show.

Affiliates and Kia Hyundai Motor (KS:), one of the few automakers to debut electric SUV designs at the show, flew executives from Seoul to Los Angeles, and also had chief executives.

Auto shows were once very big for carmakers and made a huge media splash. The technology director of Center for Automotive Research Brett Smith said that this has been changed by social media as well as other media. “I believe that the pandemic was perhaps the last straw.”

Changes are seen as a plus for smaller businesses.

Henrik Fisker (CEO of Fisker electric vehicle startup), said that “it gives more attention to me.”

His Ocean SUV, he said, is an “expensive sports car.” He recommends seeing it in person. “I’m sure I’m zoomed-out. It’s not something I like more than looking at pictures and computers. Fisker expressed his desire to “see the real thing.”