Geneva Motor Show: the Lowdown

Posted by Motorista on March 6, 2014 in News, Opinions, Shows | Leave a comment

The Geneva Motor Show has come and gone…but fear not! My friends over at Automobile Magazine have great coverage of the show that was. See here for their take on the hits, misses and revelations of Geneva. Having read their analysis and scoured the web for all the info on Geneva, here are my impressions on the good, the bad and the ugly:

Maserati Alfieri

By all accounts, the Maserati Alfieri concept was the star of Geneva 2014. While not currently set for production, all indicators are that this Jaguar F-Type fighter will see the light of day, slotting in behind the Gran Turismo in the Maserati lineup and retailing in the low-to-mid-$100,000-range.

The design is quintessentially Italian – passionate, emotional, sexy, all those red-blooded superlatives used to describe Italian sports cars of old. Maserati is pushing for annual sales of 50,000 units by 2015, and recently embarked on a hard-hitting advertising campaign. Cars like the Alfieri can only help in that quest. I love the Gran Turismo, and I’d love to get behind the wheel of an Alfieri.

Click here for Maserati’s website dedicated to the Alfieri.

SIX-WORDS-OR-LESS CONCLUSION: Build, Maserati. Build now.

Volvo Concept Estate

Speaking of beautiful cars, let’s talk about Volvo. I know – say what? Actually, Volvo is on a roll lately. It had a lovely crossover concept at the Detroit Auto Show (which I still need to write about). And now the Estate concept has captured the attention of Geneva. See below for a trio of videos Volvo created about the Estate, including both its design and technology:

Autoblog.com also has a nice photo gallery.

SIX-WORDS-OR-LESS CONCLUSION: Keep up the good work, Volvo.

Jeep Renegade

The much-discussed new “baby Jeep,” the Renegade will be built alongside the coming Fiat 500X, and will be the only Jeep to be built outside the United States. I’m sure it will sell in droves, and I rather like aspects of the design, but overall the impression I get is of a toy car. This from someone who drives a Mini…

See for yourself what I mean. The official photos look better than the ones from the show floor. Trouble is, the photos from the show floor reflect what the Renegade actually looks like.

While smaller than the Wrangler, the Renegade promises to be more “Jeep-like” than the soft, unfortunate Compass and Patriot, and will be trail-rated.

SIX-WORDS-OR-LESS CONCLUSION: I remain convincible. But not convinced.

Porsche’s Le Mans race cars

Porsche is fielding both a prototype, the 919 Hybrid, and a sports car, the 911 RSR, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year, its first entries in this venerable race since 1998 (trivia: former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber will be racing for Porsche this year). Porsche unveiled the new cars at Geneva, and Jalopnik has the goods.

SIX-WORDS-OR-LESS CONCLUSION: Can’t wait to see in action!

Lamborghini Huracan

I may have mentioned this car before? The world’s sexiest natural disaster made its official debut at Geneva. But, lucky ducks, you already know all about it, for which you are welcome. Except you don’t know how to build one. Would you like to know how to build one? Okay – here’s a DIY guide to the Lamborghini Huracan. Again, you’re welcome.

SIX-WORDS-OR-LESS CONCLUSION: Yes, please.

Audi TT

Um, I was kind of excited about the debut of the all-new TT. Thing is, it looks exactly like the old one. I thought the Allroad Shooting Brake Concept at Detroit was much more interesting.

SIX-WORDS-OR-LESS CONCLUSION: Wake me up when new design.

Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge

Infiniti’s high-performance concept actually debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Here are some of my photos of it:

 

 

 

Quite lovely.

The Eau Rouge was back at Geneva, this time with the news that Infiniti is putting the Nissan GT-R‘s 3.8L twin-turbo V6 under the hood. This enters the realm of reality because Nissan and Infiniti are brand-mates (think of Infiniti as the Lexus to Nissan’s Toyota). By the way, that means an Infiniti with 560 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque. In other words, an Infiniti doused in a chocolate fountain, covered in sprinkles and crowned with a cherry. It sounds simply delicious.

Infiniti has not committed to building the Eau Rouge yet. But they should. They should.

SIX-WORDS-OR-LESS CONCLUSION: Do it! Do it! Do it!

Jaguar XE

Jaguar did not actually reveal the forthcoming XE sedan, just a rendering of its face (see photo, top left) and a few tempting details. The XE will be Jaguar’s new entry-level sedan (bumping up the XF to mid-level) and will be all aluminum. Look for the actual car to be revealed later this year.

SIX-WORDS-OR-LESS CONCLUSION: Jaguar hunts the BMW 3-Series.

Mazda Hazumi concept

This sporty little dude will become the new Mazda2 when it goes into production. With my weakness for hot hatches, I admit that it charmed my socks off. If the new 2 retains the sporty character of the Hazumi, and is fun to drive, it will go right to the top of my recommended list.

Watch the first video on Autoblog.com’s page.

SIX-WORDS-OR-LESS CONCLUSION: Zoom zoom indeed.

McLaren 650S/650S Spider

What is there to even say about this? The new 650S slots in between the amaze-balls MP4-12C and the positively insane P1. The Saudi royal family and some guy from San Antonio that I once met are the only ones who can afford any of these. We plebeians have nothing to add to the conversation. So let us ogle from a distance.

SIX-WORDS-OR-LESS CONCLUSION: Because, McLaren.

Gumpert Explosion

Stop. Stop right there. There exists in this world a car called the Gumpert Explosion. We can all die fulfilled. The end.

(You can read more about it here. But do you really even need to?)