Geneva: Green and Getting Greener
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20080303-0017-ANE.qxd 2/29/08 12:31 PM Page 17 March 3, 2008 www.autonewseurope.com · PAGE 17 Guide to the Geneva auto show Photo: Tim Kavanagh The 78th Geneva auto show will feature green cars, cheap cars and fast cars. For the show debuts from A to Z, see Pages 18 to 23. Geneva: Green and getting greener Automakers will show But the 2008 Geneva show, the 78th lawmakers are demanding. namics technologies. Ghosn’s other job is CEO of Re- environmentally friendly to be held in the Swiss city, could be BMW and Mercedes-Benz will With the focus on green technolo- nault. One of the most closely technologies for mass market a historic turning point. The show have hybrid cars on show in Geneva, gies, Nissan has not chosen the best watched launches in Geneva will be will not just feature a growing array but the emphasis will be on the time to introduce its luxury Infiniti the unveiling of a concept for the new of environmentally friendly cars and breadth of technologies they will de- brand or its G-TR supercar in Europe. Megane. Renault makes most of its Paul McVeigh technologies. ploy in the near-to-medium term. But Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says profits from the Megane and its mini- Automotive News Europe It will provide a vision of how those Mercedes will debut the first pro- Infiniti is not looking for huge mar- van sibling, the Scenic. technologies are likely to move from duction cars that feature its new fuel- ket share in Europe. He wants to re- With the current Megane’s sales The Geneva show halls will be awash the premium segments, where most saving BlueEfficiency technologies. duce Infiniti’s dependence on its sliding steeply, Ghosn needs the new, with cars of every color this year. But innovations start, to the volume car BMW will show an X5 SUV with fur- main North American market and third-generation Megane to be a hit. only one shade really matters: Green. sectors, where most cars are bought. ther developments of its EfficientDy- give the brand a global footprint. Industry watchers say the current Pressured by EU legislators to cut Megane’s quirky styling was a turn- CO2 emissions and by consumers Getting serious Three to see off for some buyers in the conserva- worried about climate change, au- tive lower-medium segment. tomakers need to show they mean This year’s Geneva exhibition will Geneva visitors will study the con- business when they talk about reduc- provide some strong examples of cept to see if Renault’s designers have ing the automobile’s effect on the en- how volume carmakers are getting heeded Ghosn’s demand that they vironment. serious with their efforts to curb CO2. place functionality and customer And that’s what they are expected Ford will highlight a version of its tastes ahead of extravagant styling to do in Geneva. new Fiesta small car with CO2 for new models. Major auto shows have been rapid- emissions of less than 100g/km. ly shifting focus from big cars with big The news is significant because the Dacia announcement engines to lighter and smaller cars small-car segment is Europe’s Dodge with more full-efficient powertrains. largest and Ford’s sub-100g/km Fi- The Dodge ZEO concept Renault says it will make a major The trend was clear a year ago in esta will offer car buyers a low- is powered by a 200- announcement about the future of its Geneva. It was reinforced last Sep- emissions car at an affordable price. kilowatt electric motor Romanian brand Dacia in Geneva. tember at the IAA in Frankfurt. And Volkswagen will show a concept of that produces 268hp. Dacia, which makes the hit Logan green technology was again featured a Golf diesel-hybrid that the com- low-budget car, is increasingly im- prominently in January in Detroit. pany says will burn only 3.4 liters of portant to the French carmaker. By diesel per 100km. 2011, Renault aims to sell 1.4 million Center stage Fiat’s 500 Aria, powered by a 1.3- Logans annually. liter diesel, will show how new tech- Initially launched as a low-cost Key world production debuts nologies can help bring CO2 emis- Ford sedan for developing markets, the sions down to 98 grams/km from Ford’s new Fiesta has a Logan is becoming a model family Alfa Romeo 8C Spider 111g/km for the cleanest 500 now sleek design to make it with station wagon, pickup and van Ford Fiesta on sale. stand out in the hotly con- variants. Dacia will show its Logan- Ford Kuga Toyota will introduce the iQ tested small-car segment. based Sandero hatchback in Geneva. Honda Accord minicar and the Urban Cruiser Two Chinese brands will be in Infiniti FX small SUV. Both models are aimed Geneva. BMW partner Brilliance Jin- Lancia Delta at reducing Toyota’s average CO2 bei Automotive will show large-seg- Renault Koleos emissions in Europe. ment and lower-medium cars that Skoda Superb will appear in European showrooms Toyota iQ More premium technologies in the summer. Toyota Urban Cruiser BYD Auto, which sold 2,566 cars Volkswagen Scirocco Premium carmakers will also show in Russia last year, will announce Volvo XC60 in Geneva that new technologies, its ambitious sales plans for the rest previously reserved for their top-of- of Europe. Key world concept debuts the-line models, are going into high- Tata Motors’ stand in Geneva nor- er-volume products. Tata mally is one of the less frequented Opel Meriva Forget the hype about hybrids. displays. This year, auto executives Renault Megane Measures such as downsized engines The Tata Nano will be will head there to examine the Nano, Seat Ibiza and weight reduction will be more the world’s cheapest car a modern, roomy vehicle that will Saab 9-1X important in helping the German when it launches in India be the world’s cheapest car when Volkswagen Golf TDI Hybrid premium carmakers make the big re- by the end of the year. it launches in India by the end of ductions in CO2 emissions that EU the year. ANE PAGE 18 · www.autonewseurope.com March 3, 2008 Want another copy? Geneva auto show For a printer-friendly PDF version of the Geneva preview, go to: www.autonews.com/geneva BYD 8C Spider to lead US launch China’s BYD Auto will unveil a hatch- back variant of its F3 sedan called the F3R. The lower-medium F3R could be sold in Europe. BYD plans to sell cars in F1 western Europe within 12 months, industry sources say. BYD also will dis- plants in China with a combined play its F1 small car, large-segment F6 300,000-unit annual capacity. Last year and gasoline-electric and plug-in elec- its unit sales in Russia, its only European tric cars. BYD has two car assembly market, rose 51 percent to 2,566. Cadillac Cadillac will show a hybrid version of its concept for a CTS coupe that likely will Escalade premium SUV that will go on go on sale in Europe starting in mid- sale in the US in the summer. 2009 to help the US luxury brand com- The Escalade hybrid has a 6.0-liter pete better against BMW, Audi and V-8 gasoline engine and an electric Mercedes-Benz. Cadillac also will show 8C Spider motor that can power the car at low its second-generation CTS-V high-per- speeds in cities. formance sedan and Provoq zero-emis- Alfa Romeo will unveil the 8C Spider, a starting in July. US sales of the 8C Spider They use an Alfa version of Maserati’s Also on show will be a near-production sion fuel cell concept. convertible version of its flagship 8C will begin early next year. Alfa also plans 405hp 4.2-liter V-8 engine with displace- Competizione coupe that went on sale in to start selling its 159 and Brera cars in ment increased to 4.7 liters and horse- Europe last October. the US by the end of next year. power to 450hp. The 8C Spider will go on sale in Europe ear- Alfa will build just 500 units of the 8C Spi- The Junior, Alfa’s first small car, will not ly next year, priced at about €200,000. The der. The carmaker also plans to build just be shown. It will go on sale starting in Chevrolet 8C Competizione costs €165,000 in Italy. 500 units of the 8C Competizione despite September and will be unveiled in Turin The 8C models will lead the Italian sports receiving almost 2,000 orders for the in June. car brand’s return to North America. The coupe. Both cars are based on a shortened 8C Competizione will go on sale in the US version of the Maserati GranTurismo. Luca Ciferri Debuts for diesel TT and A4 Avant Audi will show a diesel version of its TT sports car. The TT roadster and coupe will get a 168hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel. Aveo Sales will begin shortly after the show. The carmaker also will unveil its fourth- Chevrolet expects its Aveo small car plant with UkrAVTO in Warsaw, Poland. generation A4 Avant. The station wagon to become its best-selling European The Aveo replaces the Kalos in western will be sleeker and sportier than the cur- car this year, overtaking the Matiz, the Europe. Chevrolet plans to build rent model because it has a lower brand’s top seller last year with a 100,000 Aveos annually in the Warsaw roofline and more aggressively styled 70,877 volume, according to JATO plant.