The 78th International Geneva Motor Show, which wrapped up last Sunday, presented a spectacular array of cars from about 30 countries. The 77,550 square metres of space in the ever-expanding Palexpo exhibition centre was brimming with about 1,000 brands that the best of the automotive industry had to offer.
Palexpo consists of six large halls and the recently added huge Hall 7. These are all inter-connected and convert into one large exhibition space. This year Hall 7.1, in the basement of Hall 7, was also added to provide more space for restaurants and entertainment.
Around 175,000 people visited the show over 11 days this year - 15,000 less than last year.
There were 130 world or European premieres in Geneva, making it the largest worldwide premiere since 1905. Such is the importance of the event that models unveiled here are even referred to as having had a Swiss premier.
The trend this year continued towards new technologies and alternative fuels. This inclination is really industry-wide and most brands demonstrated their state-of-the-art capabilities in this field; 17 of the 130 world and European premieres are powered by these new technologies. One special hall was dedicated to this and the focus this year was on electrically-powered vehicles.
In addition to the electric-powered cars and the hybrids featured this year were more models powered by natural gas and bioethanol.
Some of these alternatively powered cars came from BMW, like the BMW X6, and the BVD F3DM, with a dual mode hybrid system. The latter is interesting in that it incorporates a pure electric driving system and a hybrid electric driving system. Cadillac introduced the Provq with a fuel cell concept and the hybrid Escalade.
Honda, Nissan, Ssangyong, Toyota and Volvo all presented alternative powered cars.
Other lesser known manufacturers - at least in Malta - such as Fisker Automotive, Fornasari, Lumeneo and Think, also presented premieres in this category. Think, for example presented a small 100 per cent electric car with a driving range of 180 km, which makes it rather practical for Malta.
In addition, independent associations like E-mobile and Gasmobil promoted alternative fuel models from Fiat, Honda, Volvo, VW, Ford, Chevrolet and Mercedes.
There were some hugely futuristic concepts unveiled, like the Opel Flextreme with flexdoors used also in the Opel Meriva concept and the Mazda Taiki.
Another new and revolutionary concept was the I-Real, a three-wheeler with one seat and an electric engine. This unique vehicle attracted enormous interest. This appeared to to be more in the category of a 'people mover' for airports, for example, rather than a vehicle for the roads.
I always keep my eyes open for the smaller cars that would be ideal for Malta or for the crowded cities. Here, in addition to the ever popular Smart, with improved specifications, and the new-look Fiat 500 and the usual products from Renault, Peugeot, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Saab and others, two models, particularly attracted my attention.
The Tata Nano was exhibited in Europe for the first time in Geneva. A few cm longer than the Smart (3.1 metres) with rear-wheel drive, all-aluminium, two cylinder, 623cc, 24.6kW, multi-point fuel injection petrol engine is expected to sell in Switzerland for about CHF 5,000 (around €3,000). Not surprisingly, it attracted a lot of attention at the show.
Also a big favourite was the Toyota iQ, unveiled as a concept in Frankfurt last year and expected to be available by the end of this year. Similar to a Smart in appearance and slightly longer (2.99 metres), it was conceived as a city car and comes in petrol or diesel engines. It delivers outstanding fuel economy and very low CO2 emissions (around 100g/km). No price was specified.
In addition to the Japanese luxury brand Infiniti, two other manufacturers exhibited for the first time in Geneva. The Chinese brand BYD unveiled a hybrid vehicle, and the Norwegian Think Global.
Among the crowd pleasers were certainly the Concept 8C Competizione Alfa Romeo, the Corvette ZR-1, the Dodge Zoe, the SEAT Bocanegra new Ibiza and the Nissan GTR.
This year the largest Hall 7 was devoted to the accessories which keep increasing year after year. Last year the navigational aids were very popular. In addition to the large selection of tyres, this year saw an increase in the garage equipment.
If the future was the main theme of the show this year, the past also featured strongly with the celebration of the anniversaries of three companies that became synonymous with the automotive industry: Italdesign, Franco Sbarro and Swiss brand Monteverdi of 375 S fame. Italdesign is famous for the first VW Golf, the Alfa Romeo Brera, and Fiat Grande Punto, and numerous others. Engineer and designer Sbarro has designed cars specifically for the Geneva show for 35 years.
Palexpo consists of six large halls and the recently added huge Hall 7. These are all inter-connected and convert into one large exhibition space. This year Hall 7.1, in the basement of Hall 7, was also added to provide more space for restaurants and entertainment.
Around 175,000 people visited the show over 11 days this year - 15,000 less than last year.
There were 130 world or European premieres in Geneva, making it the largest worldwide premiere since 1905. Such is the importance of the event that models unveiled here are even referred to as having had a Swiss premier.
The trend this year continued towards new technologies and alternative fuels. This inclination is really industry-wide and most brands demonstrated their state-of-the-art capabilities in this field; 17 of the 130 world and European premieres are powered by these new technologies. One special hall was dedicated to this and the focus this year was on electrically-powered vehicles.
In addition to the electric-powered cars and the hybrids featured this year were more models powered by natural gas and bioethanol.
Some of these alternatively powered cars came from BMW, like the BMW X6, and the BVD F3DM, with a dual mode hybrid system. The latter is interesting in that it incorporates a pure electric driving system and a hybrid electric driving system. Cadillac introduced the Provq with a fuel cell concept and the hybrid Escalade.
Honda, Nissan, Ssangyong, Toyota and Volvo all presented alternative powered cars.
Other lesser known manufacturers - at least in Malta - such as Fisker Automotive, Fornasari, Lumeneo and Think, also presented premieres in this category. Think, for example presented a small 100 per cent electric car with a driving range of 180 km, which makes it rather practical for Malta.
In addition, independent associations like E-mobile and Gasmobil promoted alternative fuel models from Fiat, Honda, Volvo, VW, Ford, Chevrolet and Mercedes.
There were some hugely futuristic concepts unveiled, like the Opel Flextreme with flexdoors used also in the Opel Meriva concept and the Mazda Taiki.
Another new and revolutionary concept was the I-Real, a three-wheeler with one seat and an electric engine. This unique vehicle attracted enormous interest. This appeared to to be more in the category of a 'people mover' for airports, for example, rather than a vehicle for the roads.
I always keep my eyes open for the smaller cars that would be ideal for Malta or for the crowded cities. Here, in addition to the ever popular Smart, with improved specifications, and the new-look Fiat 500 and the usual products from Renault, Peugeot, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Saab and others, two models, particularly attracted my attention.
The Tata Nano was exhibited in Europe for the first time in Geneva. A few cm longer than the Smart (3.1 metres) with rear-wheel drive, all-aluminium, two cylinder, 623cc, 24.6kW, multi-point fuel injection petrol engine is expected to sell in Switzerland for about CHF 5,000 (around €3,000). Not surprisingly, it attracted a lot of attention at the show.
Also a big favourite was the Toyota iQ, unveiled as a concept in Frankfurt last year and expected to be available by the end of this year. Similar to a Smart in appearance and slightly longer (2.99 metres), it was conceived as a city car and comes in petrol or diesel engines. It delivers outstanding fuel economy and very low CO2 emissions (around 100g/km). No price was specified.
In addition to the Japanese luxury brand Infiniti, two other manufacturers exhibited for the first time in Geneva. The Chinese brand BYD unveiled a hybrid vehicle, and the Norwegian Think Global.
Among the crowd pleasers were certainly the Concept 8C Competizione Alfa Romeo, the Corvette ZR-1, the Dodge Zoe, the SEAT Bocanegra new Ibiza and the Nissan GTR.
This year the largest Hall 7 was devoted to the accessories which keep increasing year after year. Last year the navigational aids were very popular. In addition to the large selection of tyres, this year saw an increase in the garage equipment.
If the future was the main theme of the show this year, the past also featured strongly with the celebration of the anniversaries of three companies that became synonymous with the automotive industry: Italdesign, Franco Sbarro and Swiss brand Monteverdi of 375 S fame. Italdesign is famous for the first VW Golf, the Alfa Romeo Brera, and Fiat Grande Punto, and numerous others. Engineer and designer Sbarro has designed cars specifically for the Geneva show for 35 years.