Arrive 10am, a full 3 hours after the others
Short walk through security and straight outside the airport where I am greeted by the biggest poster of the new VW Polo! WOW! That is one car I did not expect to see at Geneva!
Another short walk and I am now outside the Palexpo (really busy!), a quick text message to Tim to let him know that I am outside (he has my pass), he then rings me to tell me that Ben Pulman will come and find me and to keep
a look out for him.
Finally inside, straight up the escalator, I immediately find myself at the Guigiaro press conference, a BMW Mini cabrio is unveiled(?!). Former F1 racing driver Jean Alesi is there too! I take a couple of pictures, look behind me, a lot of
commotion at the GM stand, Carl-Peter Foster is there and more importantly Bob Lutz! So many people trying to take his picture! Enough to make Britney Spears jealous! He then reveals the Ampera, very nice! Should reach the UK in 2012 he says!
Move on…
Penny Mallory and Jason Dawe (used car roadshow) don’t seem keen on having their picture taken, I leave them alone….
Walk past the quiet Subaru stand, the Legacy concept is being presented, reminds me of the Suzuki Kizashi, remember it? No? Good! Subaru’s are still being designed by a blind man…
Check out the Audi Q5!…And the poor fit and finish! Peugeot does a better job nowadays.
New Polo next..Nice surprise! My highlight so far! Looks really good, available with a wide range of engines and the fit and finish (again) is spot on! A thousand miles ahead of its poor relation the Seat Ibiza which itself is resting at the next stand… I Check out the yellow Cupra, why not, and OH MY GOD! The panel gaps round the wings are absolutely massive……!!! I hope it is only a pre-production model! Either that or that particular car has already been crashed once!
The Exeo next, I feel sorry for SEAT….A gift sir? Yes please! A presentation CD of the Exeo Estate…Oh,okay,thanks lady! Great.
Skoda Superb, really clever boot lid and quite straight forward to use, I chat to one of the PRs for a couple of minutes.
Ford Iosis? The B-max surely! Looks smart even though I very much doubt the rear sliding doors will make it into production
Mazda stand, embarrasing moment of the day…Do you have anything that you give out? Yes but only to people with special press passes sir, do you have a special pass? No! I walk away..Oh but it says press on my pass, I walk back to the hostess, is this pass you want? No! Okay, time to avoid the Mazda stand for the rest of the day….All that for a stupid brochure..
Next, the Chevrolet Spark, quite decent, should sell to a wide audience..
Soon be time to meet up with the lads..Walk past the Alfa stand, love the red 159 estate, looks stunning…and so do the girls leaning on it! I get my camera out and pretend to be taking a picture of the car…
They won’t know!
13.30pm At the R.Royce stand. I meet Tim and the rest of the group for the first time…Feels really odd at first, when you are used to talking to people but have not actually ever seen what they looked like..R.R are unveiling their new smaller model, can’t see a thing! We decide to go and find somewhere to eat, Robby takes pictures of all the good looking women that he sees…then we spot the Skyline…PERFECTION!
The Renault stand at last! Been looking forward to this for weeks and, well, disappointment near enough all the way! Granted the White Laguna Coupe looks awesome but the new Scenic looks odd and so does the facelifted Clio! New Megane just fades into the background…I look for Carlos Ghosn, he and I need to have words…
Toyota IQ is expensive but doesn’t feel it inside, very cramped also! New Verso and Avensis? No comment! Actually, the rubber joints round the doors are coming off already, hats about it….
Daihatsu stand-12 cars that absolutely nobody is checking out, 1 hostess falling asleep standing up! After a quick (expensive) bite, time to hit the show again, I only have a couple of hours left…
Pagani Zonda is AND looks powerful, all Ferraris are fat (quite like the California mind) and the KTM X-Bow looks like an arcade machine with the TV screen missing…A real car? Really?
Pass the FIAT stand, 500 still vey girly even in Abarth form…Lamborghini has a hint of Audi R8 viewed 3/4 rear. I feel my heart racing, I just spotted a white Maserati Tithe most stunning car! Only the Italians know how to do beautiful really…
Over to the Citroen stand with Mark..We know the new C3 is behind those flimsy curtains, need a special press pass again! We hang around anyway and keep peeking into the dark room, the lovely hostess gets fed up and lets us through, WOW! I immediately think this car is going to be the next hit with a certain demographic! Move over Fiat 500! This car appeals to both sexes! The one we look at is grey with a pink/salmon roof and 18” alloys a la BMW Mini…
If this car doesn’t become a complete success then I will eat my hat! Citroen is on a roll! Well done!
Over to the BM stand, we have a chat with one of the PR’s about the X1, I tell him the whole design is a mish-mash and the main line going from under the side windows swooping into the C-pillar reminds me of the Daewoo Tacuma MPV.
Soon time to leave….walk through the Merc stand, Mark is speechless, he has just spotted Ian Callum! The obligatory picture and handshake with the man, we can’t believe it and are completely gobsmacked! An amazing end to a great day, I really want to stay. Thank you for the passes CAR!
Frankfurt?