GENEVA GETS REAL
It’s where the imminent and the imagined meet W
eird today, gone tomorrow — that summarises many of the concept cars manufacturers bring to major motor shows. There were oddballs on display at the Geneva International Motor Show but there was also a healthy dose of realism.
Not all concept cars are far-fetched futurism on wheels. Some are created to preview what a manufacturer has in the pipeline. Toyota’s GR Supra Concept, though decked out as a racer for Geneva, is headed for production next year.
Also headed for showrooms, whole or in part, are the Skoda Vision X, VW ID Vizzion, Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo and Hyundai HDC-1. Other important Geneva reveals were cars that have nearly completed the concept-toshowroom journey, such as the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe and electric Jaguar i-Pace.
Finally, there were some simple, oldfashioned new-model unveilings. Biggest of these was the Toyota that Europe calls Auris, but we call Corolla.
Among others were the new small SUV from Lexus, the UX, and the latest in Audi’s long A6 sedan line. Underneath the racetrack warpaint and whopper wing of the GR Supra Concept is the long-awaited replacement for a legendary Toyota sports car. Production of the previous Supra ended in 2002, despite its famed figuring in The Fast and the Furious.
The comeback, fifth-generation Supra has been made possible by a partnership between Toyota and BMW.
The German company didn’t want its current Z4 sports car to become geriatric but sales didn’t justify spending money to do a new one. “We’re developing a car in a segment that’s under pressure,” a BMW executive conceded last year.
Toyota did the maths, too. The Supra and Z4 share the same basic format; front-engined, rear-drive and two doors. So designing, engineering and developing one car to serve the needs of both brands made a lot of sense.
To be launched overseas in the middle of next year, the new Supra is not yet confirmed for Australia. Toyota’s local sales and marketing boss Sean Hanley is very keen to add it to the line-up. Due in Australia in about 12 months, the GT 4-Door Coupe is a Porsche Panamera rival. The big liftback has turbo V8 and six-cylinder engines, all-wheel drive, comes with four- or five-seat configurations and probably will be in the $250,000 to $300,000 range.
The luxury interior introduces a new look and some hi-tech features that will spread to other AMG models, among them a driving mode selector button mounted on the steering wheel that’s remarkably like the one used by Porsche.
Initially the GT 4-Door Coupe will be produced with a new turbocharged and electric-boosted 3.0-litre in-line six and two versions of AMG’s loud and lusty twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8.
But Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers says a high-performance hybrid is under development and will be ready by 2020. It is sure to be the fastest, and most costly, variant in the GT 4-Door Coupe range. Here’s the new face of Australia’s favourite car, the Corolla. Due to go on sale in Australia from August, the popular hatchback was revealed in Geneva under its European name, Auris.
The new Corolla is longer, lower and wider