The motoring world is packing its bags for the annual intake of Swiss charm in overpriced hotels. Industry figures from the US and Asia will rub shoulders next week with their European counterparts for this year's Geneva Motor Show.
The city's ability to play host to OPEC oil conferences alongside the UN Human Rights Commission bodes well for its neutrality in motoring terms; the Swiss having no car industry save a few small quirky firms like Ringspeed.
Once again, the show lacks an absolute showstopper, but top billing will probably go to the long-awaited Peugeot 407, replacement for the popular 406 and on sale here in May.
At the upper end of the market comes the new Audi A6, while two new city runabout concepts are aimed at teasing Smart car fans: Opel's funky Trixx and Fiat's 3.3-metre Trepiuno concept.
With Mini about to launch a soft-top version of its retro model and an Italian design house unveils a modern version of the Mini Wagon, Fiat hopes to catch some retro buzz by reviving one of its best loved concepts, the Bambino. The Trepiuno is shamelessly based on the Fiat 500, the distinctive, softly rounded and cheeky car that put Italy on its wheels after its postwar austerity.
If it goes into production - and all indications are that it will - it could be on local roads by the end of next year.
While the big guns of the sportscar market are keeping their powder dry for now, at the more affordable end of sporting motoring, Mazda will offer Europeans the chance to see its Ibuki concept, tipped as the new MX-5.
Renault will show a new 2-litre roadster concept car, unfortunately labelled "Wind" - which features the usual strange interior layout common for concepts. It's got just one rear seat, positioned between and behind the front seats, but the unveiling of the conept may signal Renault's entry to the sports coupé market. Opel will preview something far more concrete in terms of production: its two-seater Tigra, the Astra-derived coupé cabriolet.
In the mid-executive market, the new Audi A6 adopts the gaping-grille treatment hinted at by a number of Audi concept cars in recent times. The look is aimed at providing the new A6 with an instantly recognisable face, something Audi design boss Walter de Silva says has been missing until now.
At the same time, the new A6 retains the popular Bauhaus-inspired look that was part and parcel of the outgoing model, albeit in a toned-down form that makes it appear remarkably similar to the larger A8 from certain angles. It certainly needs to be innovative in design, considering it's going up against the likes of the Bangle-designed BMW 5-Series.
Following on from the launch of its Outlander, the Colt five-door hatchback is the first new Mitsubishi for three years and the second under DaimlerChrysler control. Bearing a strong resemblance to the Honda Jazz, the new car shares significant parts with the Smart forfour and is built alongside it at the former Nedcar plant at Born in the Netherlands.
Skoda will to unveil the new Octavia, looking like a larger, grown-up version of the popular Fabia, the latest model from Mlada Boleslav is an all-new design for which Skoda claims 560 litres of luggage space with the folding rear seats in place.
Finally, for the absolute outlandish, Switzerland's homegrown Ringspeed Splash has built a two-seat concept that's a car, a boat and, they claim, a plane. With a 750cc, 140bhp engine it can reach 124mph on the road, 31mph on water and 50mph in the air.
