THE GENEVA INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW 2018. Motorshow blog.

The Auto industry seems to have dusted itself down and got back to the business of showing concepts and making cars. This year I am sure that much of the discussion amongst the manufacturers, CEO’s and executives must have been regarding the news of President Trump’s tariffs on imported cars and steel into the USA (although he has already made exemptions). This could create a slight bump in the road for them. We will wait and see how it plays out! ??

More importantly with everything that has happened in the last few years, for example “Diesel Gate,” the focus has been on pushing the envelope further with the introduction of cleaner engines and the further development of electric vehicle ranges.

Spirits seem to be high in the auto industry, with many motor manufacturers launching lots of new vehicles and concept cars at this year’s show.

This year’s Geneva International Motor Show has to be one of the best I have been to in almost 20 years of attending! You could feel a new lease of life in the industry. This shone through with manufacturers including – Peugeot’s impressive new bold styled 508 and Mercedes A-Class. This new A-Class is a significant improvement on the previous model in terms of the quality and the technology inside the car.

Then there was the new All electric Jaguar I-PACE – which could be their most important car to date. Volvo have gone down a slightly different route by introducing a new brand called “Polstar” for all their electric cars. The Polstar 1 was on display.

Audi had a mini mock theatre for the launch of the new Audi A5, A6 and E-Tron prototype.

There is even room in the car market for a new Lamborghini SUV. The Lamborghini Urus SUV drew huge attention and was the scene of lots of flashing cameras and camera phones on the Lamborghini stand.

You can go to the other scale of the spectrum with hyper vehicles such as Bugatti Chiron, Koenigsegg Regera and the new McLaren Senna. All 500 of the new road going McLaren Senna have now been sold.

Every motor manufacturer was showing how easy it was to connect with their vehicles. They demonstrated swiping and interacting with the icons on the dashboard screens, either talking to it, or having your own personal settings stored in the vehicle.

Even manufacturers like Bentley and Rolls-Royce have stepped up the quality feel…something I thought would be very hard to do. In their previous models the quality bar was raised pretty high. Now with these latest models they have improved the look and the feel even more. They have pushed the feel and quality bar up even higher.

If you are willing to pay for it you can pretty much have any kind of interior trim colour and style –
making these cars truly bespoke pieces of machinery.

If you want to have an even more unique vehicle, the show had its fair share of independent tuners….from Mansory to Startech to name just 2.
And if it’s a unique look and more power you desire, check out Brabus below!

Everybody needs a 900 bhp S-Class!

I truly believe that we are in very exciting times!! The industry seems to be covering all bases….be it petrol engines, electric or hydrogen. From what I have just witnessed they are producing exciting and interesting vehicles.
The motor manufacturers seem to have their mojo’s back, after all I believe that a car is more than just a tool to get you from A to B. It is, and should be, an extension of you! So, it’s ok that you connect with it inside (with your smart phone via Bluetooth) but I do think you should connect with it’s body design style too.
It should be something that you have an emotional bond to, and now that we are swiping and talking to it in this connected world we live in, it will prove to be more than just a car!