Notable by their absence was a quartet of renowned brands, namely Ford, Jaguar-Land Rover, Mini and Volvo,
whilst 2018 absentee Opel was still without a stand, although the exhibition spaces that they would normally
have occupied were absorbed by other manufacturers and specialist displays, These included one featuring
historic Abarth models, and the Klima lounge with a variety of vehicles ranging from a Citroen Traction Avant,
through a classic Lamborghini tractor and a Centenario version, to an example of the recently announced
Brabham BT62 supercar. Despite the absence of some of the big names, there was still plenty of variety in
the way of new models and concept cars. Geneva always seems to attract some of the more obscure
offerings, like those from Sbarro, which appear decidedly wacky sometimes, like their “el-Richo” trike for
urban transport, with either a hybrid or a full electric power unit. Then there are the totally over the top
“personalisation” offerings from the likes of Mansory, which included a duo-tone metallic blue and marble
effect modified Bugatti Chiron, which they called the Centurio.
Citroen celebrated their centenary with a predominantly study in black and white stand, featuring both new,
concept and classic models, apart from the Ami One concept car and the C3 WRC car which bucked the
black and white theme. Over at Fiat, the star was the kept under wraps until the eve of the show Centoventi
electric concept car, generally referred to as the “electric Panda”, which aims to be one of the cheapest
electric cars on the market, should the project get the green light. Sister marque Alfa Romeo, displayed the
Tonale, which like the larger Stelvio model is also named after an Italian Alpine mountain pass. This is a
mid-size SUV which will be the first Alfa Romeo with plug-in hybrid technology. It wasn’t only the European
brands that came up with some promising new offerings and concepts, amongst the Far East manufacturers,
Honda showed their e prototype developed in conjunction with IED, KIA showed their Imagine concept car,
Mitsubishi debuted their Engleberg Tourer concept previewing the next Outlander model, and Nissan had a
new concept called the IMQ, slated to be the upcoming replacement for their Qashqai.
There was quite literally a plethora of supercars and hypercars spread around the halls, with both traditional
and new names providing a spectacular array of offerings in traditional fuel, hybrid and full electric power
forms. Bugatti displayed a one-off Chiron based model called La Voiture Noire, producing nearly 1500bhp, and
with an eye watering price tag of some €11 million, the highest price new car sold! If 1500bhp isn’t enough for
you, then how about the all-electric Pininfarina Battista with a claimed power output of 1900bhp, which will be
limited to a production run of 150 units. Aston Martin provided an idea of the future direction of their models,
with not only the previously seen Valkyrie models, but a pair of new mid-engine models, one code named 003
and the other called the Vanquish Vision Concept, in both of which can be seen traces of the Valkyrie
heritage. The latter is planned to be the company’s first series production mid-engine model. As if this wasn’t
enough they also presented the Lagonda All-Terrain Concept, a fully electric luxury SUV loaded with
innovative features.
Lamborghini presented the Huracan Evo Spyder and the Aventador SVJ Roadster, whilst Koenigsegg had
their latest offering, the Jesko, boasting 1600bhp from its twin turbo 5 litre V8 engine coupled to a nine speed
gearbox, claimed to produce “light-speed” gear changes. No serious motor show would be complete without
Ferrari, and they presented their latest mid-range offering at Geneva, the F8 Tributo, a development of the 488
model, but 40kgs lighter, and using the development of the 3.9 litre twin turbo V8 engine that featured in the
hardcore 488 Pista model, producing 710bhp, which becomes the “standard” engine. Their stand also featured
examples of the other models in the current range, namely the Portofino, the GTC4 Lusso and the 812
Superfast, together with a F1 static show car.
Despite the absence of the previously mentioned “big names”, the quality of the show was not diluted, as
there were plenty of exciting new models and concept cars to satisfy all tastes and wallets. Whilst it is also
provides an opportunity to see some cars that may never make production, but at the same time offer design,
innovation and/or technical features that may appear in a revised form in the future.
Related Material
... Ferraris on Display >>>
Keith Bluemel
03/2019
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