If the motoring industry gurus gathered at Geneva were to come together and create one car they reckon epitomises the industry’s vision of the future, the end result would be an autonomous driving plug-in electric SUV/crossover capable of getting from 0-100km/h in less than four seconds.
Actually that pretty much describes the new Tesla Model X, making its European debut here. Tesla symbolises the major challenges faced by the establishment from newcomers from the tech world, not least the likes of Google, Apple and Tesla, the latter the only of those newcomers with cars on the market at present.
There is no escaping the external challenges faced by the motor industry, from macroeconomic uncertainties of a Chinese slowdown and worries about Brexit, through to falling oil prices that dent its efforts to get consumers into cleaner, more efficient cars – for which the car firms have invested heavily in development.
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Even the lack of a government in Ireland got a mention among some foreign executives we spoke to. Sometimes you get the impression that car executives swing from blind-eyed optimists to natural-born worriers.
The most common format for the new metal on display is undoubtedly still SUV. They may call it crossover – or in the case of Toyota’s new CH-R, a “coupé high-rider” – but at the end of the day consumers are getting out of hatchbacks and saloons and getting into real or wannabe SUVs.
There was of course some regular metal on offer. Fiat showcased the result of its joint venture with Mazda which gave the Japanese brand the new MX-5. The Italians get a gorgeous, retro-throwback Abarth 124 Spider, complete with a matte-black bonnet and 170hp turbo engine. Arriving in Ireland in the autumn – or hopefully before – it looks fantastic.
On a more sensible note Fiat also showed off its new Tipo hatch that promises less-than- cutting-edge engines (all of which are at least a decade old in their basic designs) but affordable prices and plenty of space. It is due to arrive in Ireland in September.
Renault seems to be kicking off something of a renaissance – its new Scenic MPV looks very smart, both inside and out, and the Megane Tourer estate looks likewise, the sort of car that could bring some class and desire back to a brand image wounded for too long by rampant discounting and disappointing products such as the Fluence.
Back in SUV territory and Skoda's Vision S concept was enticing with its spacious, high-tech cabin and frugal plug-in hybrid powertrain. You can just imagine the production version (set to be called Kodiak) flying out of showrooms, something you can equally say for its VW Group's SUV brethren also launched at the show – Seat's Ateca and Audi's Q2.
VW’s own SUV concept, the T-Cross Breeze, looked rather pleasant, especially with its Jeep Renegade-influenced front end, and looks as if it could be one of the cars to pull VW out of its diesel-gate malaise.
Expand sales
Speaking of Jeep, its Qashqai-sized C-segment crossover, which we had been expecting to make its global debut at Geneva, was a no-show. With Jeep pushing hard to expand sales in
Europe
, bringing a handful of 75th anniversary special edition models of its existing range seems like rather thin gruel.
Electric cars, of course, gained some headlines. VW was making its own promises about a future Golf-sized car, affordable to build and buy, with a 500km range. Mitsubishi's ASX-sized eX concept already boasts that kind of one-charge range, and Mitsubishi seemed confident it could put the car into production in the next few years.
Meanwhile, Nissan's IDS concept – the next Leaf in concept form – helped Nissan to float its concept of Intelligent Mobility; a combination of electric power and autonomous vehicles.
Autonomy was, of course, a pervading theme at the show – few new production cars being shown off did not have some sort of self-driving or at least self-parking feature, and perhaps these visions of a future where all cars are self-piloting pods rather took the wind out of the sales of some of the new models.
Nissan, though, was also looking at a more immediate future with premium-grade concept versions of its Qashqai and X-Trail models – previewing a possible upmarket move where the cars could be sold with extra equipment, more luxurious interiors and appropriately inflated price tags. It seemed to be something of a theme of the show – Ford likewise announced the expansion of its luxurious Vignale line.
We've giggled at the prospect of posh Fords before, but the Blue Oval bosses seem to be deadly serious about the idea, and want to use luxury versions of cars such as the Edge SUV, S-Max MPV and the Kuga (as well as the existing Mondeo Vignale) to take on the likes of BMW and Audi.
There were some obvious misfires though. Maserati's Levante SUV looks like a Porsche Cayenne rival that has come to market 10 years too late. Ugly/pretty or just pretty ugly (you decide), it seems unlikely to put more than a temporary reverse on Maserati's sliding sales fortunes.
Opel’s gorgeous GT Concept coupe looked great and boasted accessible, enjoyable performance figures but seems sadly unlikely to ever darken the parquet of a showroom.
More affordable
Mercedes’ rather attractive new C-Class convertible struck a pleasing pose, as did the news that Mercedes is introducing a second-tier, more affordable AMG line-up to compete with BMW’s M-Performance and Audi’s S models.
Jaguar, meanwhile, swung for the boundary rope with a bright orange 575hp F-Type SVR that will take you beyond 330km/h at an affordable (in Bugatti terms) price.
Toyota decided that its new C-HR crossover would blur the boundaries between the classes, somewhat, by being pitched as a rival to the Nissan Juke and Mazda CX-3 but actually being pretty much as big as a Qashqai. It looks good, if a touch over-styled, and the Prius-based hybrid powertrain will grant it class-leading sub-90g/km CO2 emissions.
The lovely 115hp 1.2 turbo petrol engine will be available too but the lack of a diesel version could limit sales in the Irish market.
There was, of course, the glamour and glitz of the supercars at Geneva. Take the Bugatti Chiron, a car boasting 1,500hp and named for a legendary pre-war racing driver.
Yet the reveal of the Chiron felt a little flat, as if the time for such cars has passed, a feeling that similarly afflicted the debut of the Lamborghini Centenario.
Both cars are already sales successes – a sell-out in the case of the Lambo, but there was a despairing sense of them-and-us about them. A sense of too big a gap between their price tags and power outputs and the cars the rest of us drive.
That said, the Swiss still seem relatively immune to recession so it is a natural playground for such cars. On the way to the show we came across a silver and blue Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe parked up at a Lidl. These Swiss bankers like their bling but they also know value.
