Geneva Motor Show
Coming only a few weeks after Detroit kicked off 2007’s calendar of major motor shows, Geneva opens the European season with a flourish, and quite often the odd flurry of snow, in the city’s huge Palexpo centre, against the backdrop of the surrounding mountains.
But if the setting is a bit different from Michigan’s finest, the attraction is very much the same, and Geneva yet again promises to bring us a long list of European and world debuts, and a show that the experts have always rated as one of the best in the world.
This year it opens its doors to the public from March 8 to 18, and the 2007 edition of what’s formally called the Salon International de L’Auto et Accessoires (or Geneva Motor Show to most of us) is the 77th in a series that began in 1905, celebrated its centenary in 2005, and over the years has seen some of the greatest unveilings in motoring history.
While Detroit is now the only major show in the U.S. to run every year, Geneva is Europe’s only annual extravaganza, and the big manufacturers still see it as their first chance of the year to make a big splash on this side of the Atlantic with their next big thing.
Over the years, those Geneva debuts have included cars from the mighty, supercharged Mercedes SSK in 1929 and the revolutionary Chrysler Airflow in 1934, to the show-stopping Jaguar XK120 in 1951, the even more amazing XKE in 1961, and Audi’s first quattro in 1980 — turning the rules around with their groundbreaking all-wheel-drive coupe.
And to show that Geneva still has its power, all those manufacturers will be grabbing headlines again this year — Mercedes with the brilliant new C-Class, Chrysler with the Dodge Demon Roadster concept for an affordable sports car, Jaguar with the first European glimpse of the car that took Detroit by storm, the C-XF concept, and Audi with the gorgeous-looking A5 coupe that promises to take the fight right to BMW’s 3-Series’ coupe doorstep — a mix of significant new production cars and spectacular concepts that makes Geneva special.
In fact the show will be bigger than ever, with more than 250 exhibitors and almost 77,000 square meters of exhibition space — while they promise more elbow room for visitors this year, with a revised layout and especially thanks to wider aisles between stands.
And as ever, there are more off-the-wall Geneva firsts — this year including first Geneva appearances for a manufacturer from China, in the form of the Brilliance marque, and from a world famous motorcycle manufacturer taking a first step into a new breed of sporty, track-focused car, KTM unveils the dramatically styled two-seat X-Bow. There are even some famous names coming out of retirement, notably Abarth, as Fiat relaunches its sporty brand with the scorpion badge, and Dutch specialist Donkervoort is re-born.
In total, the organizers promise more than 80 world and European premieres in the vehicle sector alone, and the show is about so much more than that, with design, engineering, motor sport, historic exhibits and accessories all represented in Geneva, too.
And, appropriately for current concerns with the world’s climate and resources, a central part will be played by technologies developing alternative energies, and cutting emissions. So alongside the hybrid technologies of the major manufacturers, we’re promised a whole array of “ecocars,” including two versions of the ”Greeny” city car from Indian manufacturer Reva Electric Car Company — showing again how truly international Geneva has become.
If you can make it, the show is open to the public every day from Thursday March 8th to Sunday March 18th, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays and 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets on any day cost 14 Swiss Francs for adults, 8 Swiss Francs for children aged 6 to 16, or pensioners. For groups of 20 or more, tickets are 9 Swiss Francs per person.
If you can’t be there in person, though, don’t worry, because we’ll be there for you — even before the doors open to the world’s press on Tuesday, March 6. We’ll have articles, pictures and videos from every unveiling that counts, to all the new cars and the stories and people behind them — in our usual, unrivaled motor show coverage.
2008 Geneva Motor Show Articles Index:
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+ 2008 Geneva Motor Show Preview: Rinspeed sQuba Concept - For the spy who loves you
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+ Geneva ‘08 Preview: Chevy Aveo 3-door
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