2016 Geneva International Motor Show
The Geneva Salon has one thing in common with all its other counterparts in the motor show universe such as Detroit, Tokyo, Paris or Los Angeles: you never really know what you are going to find till you get there.
Sure, whole forests are consumed by the print magazines previewing, or more accurately, repeating the information fed to them by the manufacturers but there are always gaps in this intelligence and that is where a show’s soul will lie.
So what was special about Geneva in 2016? Dream cars? Oh yes, with the charge being led by the new Bugatti Chiron, closely followed by the Ferrari GTC4Lusso, Lamborghini Centenario and the Aston Martin DB11, all of whom will get a closer look here on z. But there was plenty more to entertain and engage those of us who have not won the lottery and who drive more modest vehicles.
Themes that hit me were the widening of the ability to personalize your daily driver, whether you have a Rolls-Royce or a Citroën, it is possible to put your personal stamp on it.
Other areas that caught my attention were the high end SUVs, a seemingly ever expanding market segment. The same could be said of City Cars, their day has possibly arrived.
Indeed the whole luxury part of the automotive scene was vibrant, presumably due to the high returns that such cars bring. This applied to both performance vehicles and limousines.
There was a fine collection of show ponies, as I call them, cars that are seen at shows but never in the flesh. Do they exist outside of the imagination and the cat walk?
Then there were some fine real world cars, stuff that you and I might covet and actually buy. So let’s run around the halls.
Personalization comes in many forms and we looked at how Rolls-Royce took that to extremes at last year’s Geneva Salon. It would appear that such an initiative has paid off with the announcement in Geneva of the largest single commission in Rolls-Royce history. The 13 Hotel in Macau has ordered a fleet of 30 extraordinary Bespoke Phantoms for use by their clientele.
Volkswagen has encountered difficulty with their forays into the luxury segement, something called a People’s Car is a tough sell to status conscious folks. However no such preconceptions exist in China, so VW have announced an exclusive model for that country, the Phideon. It is personalization of a whole local market place.
The march of the SUV is like a terminator, it cannot be stopped or reasoned with. Latest to the party was Maserati with the Lavante, part of the brand plan to sell 55,000 units per annum.
Audi will directly challenge the Maserati with their SQ7 TDI, the world’s first production car combining turbocharging with an electrically powered compressor to give stunning performance. It is another sign of the confidence of the Audi brand.
Not all the action in the SUV class was at the high end, Volkswagen’ planned entry-level model, the T-Cross Breeze, caught many observers’ attention. This is one of the most highly contested segments of the market but VW seem to have scored a goal here.
Bentley toned down their performance side in Geneva, concentrating on their latest range of high end saloons, such as the Mulsanne Grand Limousine by Mulliner, almost the last word in opulence.
Rolls-Royce are not to be left in the shade by their former subsidiary, so brought a different focus to their range with the introduction of the Black Badge range.
Although motorsport has been banned in Switzerland since 1955 there were plenty of racers on hand to reflect the competitive spirit of the automobile. Some, like this Corvette C7-R, reflected the link between road and track.
Others like this 1965 Honda F1 racer recalls a simpler era of racing, the cars far more elegant than today, like comparing a Spitfire with a Stealth bomber, but that is progress or so we are told.
Every show has a collection of show ponies, some like the Spyker C8 Preliator will make it to production, the Dutch company having fought its way out of bankruptcy.
Others like this Rimac Concept_S is definitely more than vaporware but does the world need a 1,384bhp electric hypercar and who will buy it?
Then there are those machines you wish that you had missed. Contender for one of the worst was Mansory’s take on a Ferrari F488, the 4XX Siracusa. Why not leave the original alone, it is from Maranello after all and they do know about performance cars there. I have no adequate explanation. They must know something I don’t as they are in business and no doubt way more successful than yours truly.
In the real world there were more important cars such as the prototype Honda Civic, likely to be a real part of our lives unlike the Mansory and its ilk.
Then there was my contender for surprise of the show, the Abarth 124 Sport, shown here in full rallying guise.
The Geneva Salon should be on the bucket list of anyone with petrol in their veins, and I hope to have given you a taste that whets your appetite for future editions.
