There were so many interesting new cars at the 77th Geneva show, some with huge power outputs, that you might have thought the motor industry was not heading for intensive care.  | | The show room: Andrew English and Peter Dron search for the star of the Geneva Show |
Last Tuesday, Rolls-Royce took firm deposits on 10 cars - or was it 11? CEO Ian Robertson could not remember. Hang on, we asked, how can you have sold 10, or 11, cars on press day? With a sly grin, he replied: "I don't think the buyers were journalists." Quite so: Palexpo's halls were seething with bling merchants accompanied by trophy totty, the organisers having (once again) succumbed to the temptation to sell tickets to "VIPs". On press day. Moving right along, with difficulty among the throng of "VIPs", what is the star? Well, it isn't the impressive R-R Phantom Drophead, unveiled in Detroit. It must be a hybrid, but which - Honda or Toyota? The rivals faced each other off from opposite sides of the main hall, each with two hybrids, each with one world debut. You may dismiss the new what-a-wonderful-world paint scheme of Honda's F1 cars as marketing hype, but when Japanese manufacturers embrace new technologies, they do so seriously. On balance, we nominate as our superstar the Honda Small Hybrid Sports Concept (not only because it was finished in an attractive deep scarlet), a "clean" car people might actually want to buy. Ah, concept cars; what do they mean? Thinly disguised forthcoming production models, indications of future design/engineering trends, or merely column-inch magnets? Apparently, there is no intention of turning Honda's cute concept, which might be based on the next Jazz platform (due in 2009), into a showroom model. But for its looks alone it deserves to be more than a mere styling exercise. The two-seater was designed at Honda's Offenbach studio in Germany, under Italian project leader Fabio Miniati. What is under the skin, combining the Civic's 1.4-litre petrol engine and electric power ("60-70mpg, about 120mph"), will definitely go further. Honda's CEO, Takeo Fukui, has previously said that hybrids are cost-intensive and difficult to turn into profit. So we asked the ex-racing engineer whether he has changed his view or is following an irresistible market trend. "Current hybrids have such high costs," he said, "that if you try to match price to cost, you cannot make profits. Customers in Japan are prepared to pay a premium of 200,000 yen [about £880] for a hybrid. For Honda, the volume is limited. To make business sense, we need to increase volume and reduce cost. In 2009, our all-new hybrid will meet these requirements, with 200,000 units per year, in addition to 100,000 Civic hybrids." In the longer term, Mr Fukui says Honda is focusing on hydrogen fuel-cell power for long-distance transportation. He is dismissive of "pure" battery cars, except perhaps for inner-city use, unless there is a major technological breakthrough. "Hybrids will ultimately make no CO2 emissions." But what about the Small Hybrid Sports Concept? Fukui says the 2009 car will borrow the concept's design elements, but will be "a sporty and aerodynamic five-seater". What if journalists and the public demand that something exactly like the show car should go into production? "Then I shall take those opinions into consideration." (Twinkling smile.) Why not produce it without the hybrid element? Mr Fukui merely laughs. That does not necessarily mean "No". Latvia's 555bhp supercar Ever heard of Russo-Baltique? This little-known manufacturer from Riga is celebrating its centenary with this new two-plus-two coupé. It is powered by a 555bhp Maybach V12, with retro styling apparently inspired by some versions of the Bugatti Type 57SC and an Alfa grille treatment. Photographs do not do its visual violence justice. Yet who would not want a bumper sticker reading "My other car is a Russo-Baltique"? Toyota Hybrid X "So it's the new Prius, right?" "No." "OK, so it's not the new Prius, but really it is." "No, it is not the new Prius." "Yeah, so it's not the new Prius, but there are lots of styling cues that will be used on the new Prius?" "No." It might not be the new Prius, but Toyota's Hybrid X is pretty good looking, using two U-shaped pillars to support the roof (hence X moniker) with a pleasantly airy and spacious cabin, injected foam seats and some silly stuff like the headlamps that display animated graphic forms to passing pedestrians. My other chauffeur drives a Roller OK, you're in the car supermarket sweep and you've got £341,000 to spend in 60 seconds. Go! It's a no-brainer, but 71 Perodua Kelisas won't fit in the trolley and it takes 30 seconds to find that out. So what about this: a Hyundai stretch with a body kit... sorry, a Maybach 62S. Yes, several have been sold, and not all to Simon Cowell. The 603bhp, 738lb ft, twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre V12 is a vital aid to smooth chauffeuring and we presume the pewter goblets have replaced the standard car's glass items to prevent breakages under ultimate cornering forces. Badge engineering news Competition between the Peugeot and Citroën twins is fierce on either side of La Manche. Representatives (French and English) of each company were keen to tell us how much better "ours" looked than "theirs", referring to the 4007 and the C-Crosser, PSA's first 4x4 models. Mechanically and in all essentials, they are identical, with a 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine, fitted with particle filter. You could alternatively buy the new Mitsubishi Outlander, on which they are both based. Volvo: I roll downstairs Volvo's new V70 estate launch had been widely telegraphed, but driving the XC70 version of the car down the stairs wasn't. Unfortunately, the cross-country estate also blocked the only way into what has become, over the years, our office during any motor show anywhere in the world. The V70 and XC70 go on sale in September. Not the II-XI "I insisted it couldn't be called the XI," says new (and former) Lotus boss Mike Kimberley. So it's 2 Eleven, then. The car is intended to capture the spirit of Lotus's classic 1960s racer, but with its lightweight, Elise-based chassis and a 1.8-litre supercharged Toyota engine producing 255bhp, it will be a lot quicker. This is a "track-focused" car, but it will be road legal too, despite its rollcage and absence of doors or windscreen. Production begins in June, and the price will be £40,000. "There will be a race series for it next year," added Kimberley. The car behind is a Vauxhall Vectra Remember BMW's "halo" headlamps? They have a sort of incandescent circular glow like the retina burn from a fashion photographer's ring flash. You are never in any doubt what the following car is, and now the idea has been picked up by Vauxhall. The GTC concept, essentially the new Vectra, revealed the idea of tick shapes on the front and rear lamps, which for ever mark you out as a Vectra driver. Whether you think this is a good thing or not will depend on your affinity to the crazy world of Jeremy Clarkson, but the GTC did at least prove that good design is still alive at the company, even with the departure of design head Martin Smith to Ford. Gentleman's express: Audi A5 Opinions differed on the four-ringed coupé that sits between Audi's R8 and TT; the rear had shades of Lexus about it, but we thought it pretty grown-up. The A5 goes on sale in July with prices starting at less than £30,000, rising to more than £40,000 for the 4.2-litre V8 S5 version. It is based on the chassis platform of the next-generation A4 saloon. Engines will be a mix of V6 petrol and turbodiesel with 4x4 quattro drivelines on larger-engined models. BMW M3 Mk4 The fourth generation of BMW's high-performance 3-series made its public debut, albeit in "concept" form, but the production model, due in late summer, will not be much different. The engine will be a version of BMW's V8, and cabriolet and four-door versions will follow. Other news from Bavaria: a stop-start system will be fitted as standard to all 5-series and 1-series except automatics from April or May, as part of BMW's new "Efficient Dynamics" programme - what have they been doing until now? Eat my shorts, Toyota: VW Polo BlueMotion BlueMotion is VW's name for the Bluetec clean-diesel technology that it is working on with DaimlerChrysler. VW wants the most efficient model in its passenger-car range to get the BlueMotion badge (a Passat version was also launched at Geneva). T he Polo uses a 79bhp 1.4-litre, three-cylinder TDI engine that delivers a Combined fuel economy of 72mpg and 102g/km of CO2. VW staff assiduously failed to point out that Toyota's Hybrid Prius produces 104g/km. No prices yet, but it goes on sale in the UK this summer. Badge engineering news II: Seat Freetrack Last year we refused to tell you about Seat's concept because it gave away hundreds of stupid trolleys that got pulled across one's carefully polished toecaps by unpleasant foreign hacks with no manners.  |
This year the company did exactly the same, but its crimes were shaded by Ford's heinous free press-day wi-fi system that had all the power of an Edison light bulb, so Ford gets ignored this year (actually it's the Mondeo, stupid) Seat's Freetrack is one of a host of medium-sized SUVs that will be appearing over the next year and will likely have Sir John Whitmore apoplectic with rage, especially when his baby-boomer friends drive them to Goodwood to watch him race a seven-litre AC Cobra. The production model will share underpinnings with the VW Tiguan. It has a Haldex clutch-operated four-wheel-drive system with a choice of a 2.0-litre turbodiesel or petrol engines. It was something of a vote of confidence for the troubled Seat brand that another new car was announced at the show - a Mondeo-sized saloon. Renault's Grand Touring concept Here is a concept closely previewing a production model. It looks good and apparently (minus the huge wheels) it embodies "70-80 per cent" of the five-door Clio Estate, due early next year, though it is unlikely that the interior will be as interestingly innovative. Pipe down, Brilliance "First Chinese Automobile Brand Conquers Europe!" screamed the Brilliance press release. First, for the record, Brilliance agent HSO is aiming to sell just 15,000 vehicles this year, which is only slightly more than Bentley. Second, where was this battle that Brilliance so brilliantly won, and did anyone get tickets? Third, does anyone know the Chinese translation for hubris? The BS6 is a pretty ordinary-looking saloon that was designed by Giugiaro on an off day (it looks like a Lancia) and engineered by Porsche (we understand), although Porsche seldom allows client companies to use its name in promotion materials - given China's occasionally lamentably lax corporate-governance laws, any ensuing court case will make interesting viewing. Brilliance reckons that while Japanese car makers took 20 years to establish themselves and the Koreans a decade, it will manage in just five, which is a pleasingly geometric regression slightly buggered by the claim that it will sell 75,000 passenger cars by 2010. A smaller saloon, the BC3 (above), arrives later this year, then a pretty dull coupé to back up the invasion. We know the Chinese are coming, but could they be a bit less shrill about it? The great Outdoor Nobody has yet done an "Indoor" concept, but meanwhile Peugeot's Outdoor gives a preview of the production 207 SW due in July. The "Panoramic" roof of the show car will be standard, as will roof rails (but not in orange neon). The 207 CC, on sale in May, also made its world debut. Top-end Twingos The RHD Twingo goes on sale next September, from about £8,000, but with only top-end versions, and the new diesel will not be offered, at least initially, to British customers. It looks cute, without the revolutionary feel of the original model, while the interior is more Logan than Clio, with some naff plastics and fabrics, but internal space has been improved and everything seems to be in the right place. It will be built in Slovenia. The good, the bad and the ugly "My dream is a car that makes the air cleaner as it drives and improves the health of the people driving it and can get around the world on a tank of gas. I am interested in city design and mobility, including a separation of human and vehicle traffic, no intersections on roads and perhaps inner city electric-only cars. I have told my team that is working on this to keep working." Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe on changing the world. "There is a sharing of roles here: VW with its experimental fuel-cells, GM with its grand strategies, and us who just make things work." Honda's new project engineer for the fuel-cell-powered FCX, Sachito Fujimoto, on staying ahead in the fuel-cell race. "We will be able to add vehicles that get average CO2 emissions lower, but if you want to move that needle significantly in the next few years, it's ethanol," GM's Rick Wagoner on biofuels. "You've won: that is the best phrased question of the day, but we're still not going to answer it," GM's spin doctor supreme Tony Cervone deflects another intriguingly put inquiry as to whether GM will buy Chrysler. "We have not made any decision, all options are open, but I cannot discuss any of the options." DaimlerChrysler's Dieter Zetsche refuses to answer the same question. While Lotus's 2 Eleven promises to be an excellent track-day car, the first car from KTM, Europe's second-largest motorcycle manufacturer, certainly looks more innovative, and with prices predicted to start from around £30,500, the Dallara-built X-bow (which uses an Audi FST engine) is considerably cheaper. Performance of the two lightweights should be comparable. Rinspeed had two innovations this year. First, Frank M Rinderknecht had shaved off his flamboyant whiskers, and second was the eXasis, a see-through tandem two-seater, as finely executed as any of the Swiss company's projects, and as usual made in collaboration with a number of industrial partners. Despite its tiny Weber engine, Rinspeed claims 0-60mph in 4.8sec and a top speed of 130mph. But the most astonishing statistic is the CO2 output, claimed to be 20g/km (yes, TWENTY). Unfortunately, there are no plans for production. Two schools of car design put their student projects on display. The IED BeON is a full-scale concept by 19 students of the Istituto Europeo di Design in Turin. A two-seat hybrid "offroad sports car" with a hydraulic transmission unit within each wheel hub, it is designed to traverse "deserts, beaches and wild terrain." And why not the Old Kent Road? Swiss designer Franco Sbarro's students generally produce some wacky ideas, and this year is no exception. We sat in the Jumpy Atlante. Yes, it is based on a Citroën van. Yes, they have taken a chainsaw to the roof. No, you probably cannot cross the Atlantic in it. There is only one door, at the rear. You and six others, plus the driver, step in and are driven between your hotel and the ski-lift. No, it isn't going into production. If that isn't weird enough for you, try the Assystem city car with diamond-pattern wheel layout. The name "Assystem" has been registered as a trademark, believe it or not. You have to look hard to see anything new on the Nissan stand. However, the revised 350Z's bonnet bulge proclaims an extra 10bhp. It goes on sale on May 1. Four months later, you can buy the all-new X-trail. It is slightly bigger than the outgoing model and intentionally looks virtually unchanged. Since that outgoing model has been three times as successful as its predecessor, Nissan decided that change for change's sake was unnecessary. This is a theory that sometimes works. Perhaps the most outrageous show car was the Stola, with possibly only one Brabus V12 under its enormous bonnet, but it may have been three. We wait with mild interest to learn whether the pedestrian-unfriendly hawk emblem on the bonnet will receive Type Approval. Motoring Editor Peter Hall predicted that if 6ft 4in Peter Dron got into the back of the BMW 1-series 3-door, he would have to be cut out by firemen. Hall was proved wrong, but only just. |
