The Geneva Show attracts 100 or more makers, tuners, designers like Pininfarina -- its Bollore, above -- and other auto wannabes.
Ask anyone who works the international auto show circuit and you’ll likely get the same answer over and over again. The annual Geneva Motor Show seems to be just about everyone’s perennial favorite.
For newshounds, the event can be grueling to cover, considering there’s a news conference roughly every 15 minutes, from dawn to dusk, and you’ll jostle with thousands of colleagues for a good view and a better camera angle. But you’ll get a flood of news, especially if you’re sharp at spotting the assorted industry leaders who make their annual pre-Spring pilgrimage to Geneva’s PalExpo convention center.
Indeed, it’s a great place for executives, analysts and, well, just about anyone with a stake in the business to come together, formally or not. Wander the show’s crowded aisles and you might just spot Daimler CEO Dr. Dieter Zetsche grabbing a few moments with his erstwhile rival, BMW Chief Norbert Reithofer. And even the highest-ranking executives seemed a little star-struck when the “Governator,” California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, wandered into PalExpo Wednesday morning, presumably on his own nickel and not California’s taxpayers.
Geneva brings out the automotive eccentrics, including one hopeful showing an egg-shaped car running on compressed air.
Yet for many of us in the media, one of the most intriguing features of the Geneva Motor Show is the collection of unusual, and sometimes downright oddball automakers who share floor space with more mainstream manufacturers, such as Mercedes, Opel, Renault and Toyota.
Considering its national history – and with no major manufacturer of its own – the Swiss show is considered neutral territory, where anyone with the dollars to set up a stand can find space, and some of the strangest brands grab some of the most valuable real estate.
A few names are fairly well known to automotive aficionados, like the design house, Pininfarina, which brought its Bollore Concept to the ’09 Geneva show. The event is a good way not only to get its name out to the public, but to remind industry executives that it’s ready to lend its design magic to their products.
Performance is a watchword, for Geneva, but this year brought a number of "green" sports cars, one running on solar power.
There are plenty of wannabes on display who eventually hope to go mainstream, like the California start-up, Tesla, which will begin marketing its battery-powered Roadster in Europe, this year.
And there’s Rinspeed, a perennial favorite. Over the years, the Swiss-based mini-maker has come to PalExpo with an assortment of automobiles that can fly, swim and, yes, drive. But the show car Rinspeed previewed at the 2009 Geneva Salon International de l’Auto is arguably one of its most unorthodox yet. Dubbed the Rinspeed iChange, “It’s the world’s first car whose body adapts to the number of passengers on board,” according to Rinspeed CEO Frank Rinderknecht.
Like Tesla and Rinspeed, many of the players at this year’s show are putting the emphasis on environmental technology. There are plenty of electric vehicles on display, and more than a few hybrids, including several using converted Hummer SUVs. There is even one prototype – egg-shaped like some of the mini-mobiles that came out of Europe post-War – running on compressed air, and claiming as much range as today’s battery-electric vehicles.
The Swiss show has been prime territory for performance cars, and specialty makers, such as Pagani, which showed off its Zonda Cinque. Then there are the so-called “tuners,” such as Abarth, which proudly displayed a high-performance version of Fiat’s micro-compact Cinquecento. Don’t think that a 600-power Mercedes is quick enough? Or even the 1001-horsepower Bugatti Veyron? No problem, you’ll find several tuners bumping the numbers into awe-inspiring territory.
Still other low-volume makers and wannabes can be found showing off sports cars, sedans, SUVs, and, well, vehicles that simply defy definition.
Abarth is one of the regular visitors to the Geneva Motor Show; its performance version of the Fiat Cinquecento shown here.
Despite the fact that some manufacturers are trimming back their presence on the auto show circuit, notably Nissan, it seems no one is willing to miss the annual Geneva Motor Show, including Indian and Chinese makers who have yet to crack into the European market. A quick look at the brand flags flying from the PalExpo rafters reveals more than 100 different marques on display this year. The auto industry may be in a desperate downturn, but for those who get the chance to stroll through the Swiss convention center, you’d have a hard time denying this is the automotive golden era.