Driving : Car Makers Skid Into ’92 Show

Marks of sorrow of the worst sales year in decades are fraying edges of the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show. It closes Sunday at the Convention Center.

Sterling and Peugeot are absent because they have pulled out of the United States. Rolls-Royce is not exhibiting and is suffering double humiliation: It is leasing its regal sedans to improve cash flow, and the historic company is up for sale.

Few have forgotten General Motors’ plans to lay off 74,000. “I’ve never wanted to wish my life away,” noted Jim Perkins, general manager of Chevrolet. “But the best thing I can say about ‘91: Thank God it’s over.”

Others say these are bountiful times for buyers. Interest rates are down. Rebates are high.

“A fabulous buyer’s market,” says John Rettie of industry analysts J.D. Power & Associates. “Among domestic companies, with a few exceptions, supplies are ahead of demand. Japanese companies are . . . willing to deal.”

That’s the present at the show. The future is with vehicles running on alternative fuels: methanol, ethanol, mixes of unleaded and liquid gases. Also, electric cars.

Some experts say voltmobiles will never match the range and speed of conventional cars. Francois Castaing, a Chrysler vice president, sees electric cars for weekday commuting. But society’s love of motoring, will require gas-powered cars for weekends. “Just like eating well but remembering cholesterol,” Castaing says. “One day you eat a meal good for you. Next day, ah, coq au vin .”