Talk about a tale of two cities! At the not-so-long-ago Detroit Show, Ford’s stand looked more like a used car lot than the pointer to an exciting future. The one-time king of Motown was in a meek and muddled mood. Fast forward two months to the Geneva Show and Ford – although this time healthy Ford of Europe, not ailing Ford of North America – was bouncing with boundless self-confidence. It had the production car star of the show, the Fiesta (hit!) and was reporting booming sales and profits.
The Fiesta is timed to perfection. Just as the French apparently lose the knack of making chic small hatches – a quick glance at the Renault and Peugeot Geneva stands is proof – so Ford steps into the breach with a tot that looks fabulous inside and out but also about-faces the motor industry’s lazy drift into inexorably producing bigger and heavier cars. The new Fiesta is lighter and no bigger than its predecessor – hallelujah! – yet just as roomy, safer and more solid of feel.
If the ordinary looking 4×4 Kuga (miss!) on the stand didn’t quite live up to the same high standard, then at least Ford can console itself by looking at its new Focus, S-Max and Mondeo, all deserved family favourites.
A company that Ford know rather well – India’s Tata, to whom it’s selling Jaguar and Land Rover – was also a surprising star of the show. At last year’s Geneva Show, the Tata stand was about as popular as a bad Balti restaurant in Birmingham. But at the 2008 Geneva, its new cutprice Nano (hit!) – the world’s cheapest and most newsworthy car – was swamped by eager hacks. It is a remarkable car, not least its space efficiency: not since the Mini has a car devoted a greater percentage of its body area to interior space. It is truly the people’s car.
My favourite new small car though was the Toyota iQ (hit!). Not so much bigger than a Smart, it seats three adults (plus baby) in comfort thanks to some clever packaging, including its staggered asymmetric front seats (the back bencher sits behind the front passenger, the baby – or the bags – behind the driver).
Elsewhere BMW and Mercedes endlessly drummed on about reducing CO2 emissions – it actually got quite boring, so earnest was their corporate angst at saving the planet (while also showing the usual V12s and V8s that naturally fund all this eco research). They both had hybrids and better lithium ion batteries and energy regeneration systems and stop-start electronics and clever Germans on hand with doctorates of engineering and expensive dark suits explaining why tomorrow’s Benzes and Bimmers would be as environmentally friendly as daisies dancing in the breeze. Of course they both deserve credit (hits!) but it was amusing to see that old warhorse Bob Lutz (hit!) – General Motors’ car tsar and corporate vice chairman – tell hacks what he really thought of man-made global warming (‘a crock of shit’). Bob also said that hydrogen fuel cells (once described by GM as the key to clear conscience cars) may also be too expensive and impractical. This I think is not the official GM corporate line.
Click ‘Next’ below to read the rest of Gavin Green’s blog from the 2008 Geneva Motor Show
The Italians had a great show. From the practical van-based Fiat Fiorino (hit!) to the sublime Spider version of the Alfa 8C (hit!), the Fiat Group stand brimmed with newly won self-confidence. As usual, they also had the prettiest girls on their stands.
Renault’s view of international trends traditionally extends as far as the Périphérique. Little wonder it has belatedly woken up to the SUV boom, just as it stalls. The new Korean-made Koleos (miss!) looks very vin ordinaire. But just when we suspected Renault had lost the plot, out pops the Megane Coupé Concept. If next year’s production Megane looks half as good – and apparently it does – we may once again be celebrating La Regie’s flair.
The new Honda Accord (miss!) looked about as exciting as the previous seven generations of Accord and, as usual, promised BMW rivalling dynamics (never fulfilled to date). They should just be brave and do a bigger version of the new-gen Civic, a car that turns heads even if it also turns some stomachs. At least its new 2.2 diesel engine will be great; Honda knows how to make great engines, even if it’s less consistent on style or suspension.
Saab, which was first neutered by GM, then forced to lend its badge to a Chevy truck and a Subaru, is at last showing some Scandinavian spirit again. The 9-X Biohybrid (hit!) previews Saab’s impressive upcoming Audi A3 rival. Even more imposing was the Volvo XC60 (hit!), which not only bristles with new safety tech – including a standard-fit urban safety system that brakes for itself at low speed – but looks stand-alone Swedish, the first Volvo designed by Bedford-bred ex-Mercedes man Steve Mattin (CV includes the current SL).
The Chinese (miss!) came, saw and copied, not least the risible BYD F1, a homespun copy of the Toyota Aygo. Clearly their time will come. The Koreans know this, which is why the new offerings from Hyundai and Kia were universally impressive. They must move upmarket to survive.
Whether Detroit’s time will ever come again is far more debatable.