Geneva hits and misses
GENEVA MOTOR SHOW HIGHLIGHTS EVS AND LUXURY VEHICLES
The buoyancy in the motoring industry worldwide has been reflected at this year’s Geneva motor show, with brands promoting their electric vehicle range and autonomous driving achievements as well as giving an exciting look at cars on sale soon.
The 88th show began this week amid optimism and excitement, with brands such as Hyundai openly mocking Tesla’s Elon Musk with its all-electric compact Kona SUV, while Bugatti gave the crowds something to covet, the allnew Chiron Sport.
Here are our highlights — in no particular order.
Volkswagen
Dieselgate? Nope not a word on that, instead the company focused on the future with its iD Vizzion sedan concept. The company touted its worldwide sales for 2017 (6.23 million) and talked about its future of EVs and autonomous vehicles, with the iD Vizzion the star. And no monkeys were used in the presentation.
Bentley
For the British-based company, it was a presentation of two halves. First, the introduction of the first luxury hybrid SUV, the Bentayga, with its 50km pure EV range. At the other end of the spectrum, the company used Geneva to announce there will also be a V8 petrol Bentayga. You pick which one you’d want.
Audi
The German company shook things up a bit by having a movie theatre set-up, including popcorn. With the world premiere of the allnew A6, Audi had amateur
directors create short films to promote the sedan with the theme of comfort. One director just filmed a guy smoking. Hmm, tip to Audi AG marketing . . . spend the budget on a real filmmaker, or just more popcorn. It also had the prototype e-tron pure EV SUV, a nod to its future. No popcorn machine was included in the prototype.
Porsche
The German brand book-ended nicely its line-up; starting with the GT3 RS, it’s most powerful naturally aspirated car, moving to its Mission e cross tourismo concept. The fully electric SUV can go from 0-100km/h in 3.5sec and has a range of 100km. It is being
tested in Europe. You can imagine which of the two vehicles people wanted to photograph.
Bugatti
Former Lamborghini (then Audi) boss Stephan Winkelmann is now in charge of the super luxury, extreme sporty Bugatti brand. He was excited to show the Chiron Sport to the media. It has dynamic torque vectoring and is five seconds faster than the Chiron thanks in part to being 80kg lighter.
Lamborghini
Just a few months after revealing the Urus super sports SUV to the media in Italy, the luxury brand upped its game with the super sexy Huracan Performante Spyder. Both vehicles would be great in my fantasy garage.
Hyundai
A billboard on the Geneva motor show building, mocking the Tesla boss, set the tone for the Korean brand. It said, ‘Your turn, Elon” with a line-up of its electric Konas with the caption “the first electric compact SUV is here”. It goes on sale in New Zealand this July. I predict it will revolutionise our EV market. In a nod to its beginnings, Hyundai also had the concept Le Fil Rouge.
Mercedes-Benz
The brand mixed the tough (the G 63) with the starter vehicle (allnew A-Class) and a new model for the GT range, the GT 4-door coupe — its name, not ours. The night before motor show, Mercedes held a showcase with experts explaining the amazing artificial intelligence advances of the A-Class. It was spooky (as in 2001: A Space Odyssey) but equally sci-fi fantastic MercedesBenz NZ had better prepare for an onslaught of new customers.
BMW
For BMW it was all about the grunt, with the concept M8 gran coupe on display. It’s the sporty face of the new 8 Series and shows that the German brand thinks big is good.
Jaguar Land Rover
It was a double celebration for the brand with the reveal of the
stunning iPace electric SUV, and the 1970s shout of with the Range Rover SV Coupe. Both turned heads and both will be winners for the brands.
Aston Martin
When you think of this British brand, you think luxury sports cars, but at Geneva the car company is going green with the emissionfree Lagonda Vision Concept. Although the concept will be helping lead the brand from 2021 for being an emission-free luxury brand, boy oh boy was the Lagonda big! It nearly needed its own stage.
Nostalgia
Although Microlino says its EV isn’t based on BMW’s Isetta, come on, look at it! It even has a flip-open front door. The company (which says its product is a motorbike, not a car) includes a micro scooter with the vehicle. Mircolino says its “notcar” can fit 1.2 people (huh?) with luggage in the back, and drive
35km on its battery. Top speed is
90km/h.
Next door is the e-Moke, based on the Mini Moke. Its three versions: the BeachMoke, the twoseater Moky and JumMoke offroader. Good news for Kiwi fans, they’re sold worldwide.