November 20 - Before the media arrived Wednesday for the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show, there were more sad surprises in the auto industry: GM and Chrysler have almost no money or time to even staff their booths with executives, let alone hold any news conferences. Also, Ford announced Wednesday morning that it was reducing its majority stake in Mazda from 33 to 13 percent.

Despite the bad news, there's still a lot of glittering paint and chrome on display in L.A. Stay tuned for updates as more new models make their world debuts (at left, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger near the Chevrolet Volt).

- Clifford Atiyeh, Boston.com Staff