The most interesting motor show of any given year – the Geneva Motor Show – is almost upon us. These are the cars from the debut list maintained by Just Auto that have got my motor running. Some are genuine interest and some are passing interest, but all have something interesting about them.
Sorry Volvo, I just couldn’t get you on the list. Something new from Polestar might have been good.
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Alfa Romeo 4C: carbon components, 1.7 turbo, to be built by Maserati in Modena
Alfa Romeo Gloria concept: full scale model created by I.E.D. students
Aston Martin Rapide S: Could James Bond go four-door in his next film? 5.9-litre V12. Woof.
Audi RS Q3: – I’m not sure what to say. It’s a small, hotted up SUV that’s absolutely useless in my eyes but will sell like hot cakes.
Audi S3 Sportback: same 221kW (300hp) engine as S3
BMW 3 Series GT: five-door hatchback, 200mm longer than a 3 Series Touring
Citroën C3 Hybrid Air: – Compressed air technology isn’t just Koenigsegg’s realm. It’ll be interesting to see how this stuff progresses.
Ferrari Enzo successor: – this isn’t it, just a fanboy’s admirable attempt to draw what’s billed as their fastest ever supercar. Are new Ferraris still interesting given that they’re mostly pretty much just a variation on previous one and marketed with all sorts of kitsch goods? Yes, they are.
Kia Pro_cee’d GT: powered by a 150kW 1.6-litre turbo – the car with the most annoying name in autodom is getting more interesting. KIA are hitting their straps and show no sign of slowing down. Interesting that they’ve got several ‘production’ concepts but sister Hyundai has none of any note.
McLaren P1: – it’s a McLaren. ’nuff said. This is the production-ready version of the car we’ve seen previously as a concept.
Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG: 265kW (360hp) 2.0-litre turbo and standard 4MATIC. Most hype surrounding a Merc in years. Reminds me of the BMW 135i hype a few years ago.
Peugeot 2008 HYbrid Air: compressed air tech – I guess if it’s OK for Citroen….. this is the 2008 in basic form and I’m guessing the Hybrid Air version that’ll show in Geneva won’t differ from this except from a badge (maybe)
Pininfarina Sergio concept: anything from Pininfarina is at the least, interesting to see. This is a tribute to Sergio, the boss, who passed away last year. This is all we’ve seen so far.
Qoros 3: C-segment sedan – launch vehicle for Qoros’ emergence into the automotive world with a focus on Europe.
Qoros Cross Hybrid concept: petrol-electric version of a 3-based five-door hatch
Qoros Estate concept: previews a future 3 wagon
Rolls-Royce Wraith: the coupe version of Ghost. I’ll never get one. I’ll probably never physically get close one, but it’s a new Roller and this shaded image looks AMAZING.
Spyker B6 concept: how could one not be interested in what Spyker and Victor Muller are doing now?
Toyota FT-86 Open concept: the much rumoured convertible of the 86 appears for the first time in Geneva (aside from this spy pic from a few days ago)
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“Interesting that [Kia] got several ‘production’ concepts but sister Hyundai has none of any note.”
Could it be that Kia is a “better” brand name in Europe than Hyundai? Just looked at the registration statistics for Sweden 2012. Of the top 30, Kia has cars in spot 5 (!) and 26; Hyundai in 21. Notable is that Ford only has one model there (Focus in #7) and Opel none! I feel that Opel is really in danger of circling the drain. It was not long ago it was a popular car on the roads here. Now their market share are down to 2%, while Kia is close to 6%.
On a personal note:
The Audis (again) are just a big yawn. Bright colors, several fart pipes, oversized wheels. What’s new and interesting in that?
As usual, just looking at the Alfas and the Aston gives me goose bumps…
Citroën need to get their act together. The C6 were a grandiose car, but for some reason it didn’t sell. I don’t know what they need to do to distinguish themselves and to become Citroën again. Their place on the market is extremely crowded… Why buy a Citroën, and not a Peugeot or a Kia?
Qoros is something my gut tells me to keep an eye on. Could be really interesting on the European market. So far I like what I see about the brand and the road they are planning to take.
I think Kia won a lot of Swedes over with their warranties. It started happening just before I left in 2011. There were a lot of them on the roads even then, and the new design language is catching people’s attention (the materials? I don’t know about them, but the basic shapes look OK).
I don’t know if Qoros are going to make an interesting car, but they’re aiming high and it’s interesting to see them start from nothing. You don’t get to see that too often.
Interesting to see AMG finally getting on the AWD bandwagon. Can BMW’s “M” division be far behind? And I am referrng to their cars, not their SUVs.
Audi’s S & RS models have shown that AWD & high performance can co-exist nicely. It is quite nice to have a car that will accelerate from 0-60 mph in under 5 seconds, AND make it through 8 inches of unplowed snow when called upon to do so…which I have had to do on several occasions this Winter. 🙂
What I REALLY want is for Alfa to bring a 159 Estate replacement to the US in the not too distant future. I would buy one of those in a nano-second if they were available stateside. Come on Sergio…please make that happen.`
I believe BMW may have beaten AMG to the 4wd/awd market with the M135i X-drive hatch. Don’t hold me to this but i think it’s worth researching. i can’t see a non-SUV M division car coming out with awd any time soon but Msport is a different story.
Missed the Bentley Flying Spur? A bit more organic then the old one, more fluid shape. I quite like it.