The Geneva motor show comprises a much smaller area than those at Frankfurt, Paris, Detroit, or Shanghai. Nevertheless, this year’s show hosted a large number concept cars and supercars.
• SUVs were very prevalent on all stands with design, comfort, safety and connectivity seemingly this year, more important than heavy fuel consumption;
• Super- and hypercars like the Aston Martin Vulcan and Vantage GT3, Audi’s R8, the Lamborghini Aventador, McLaren 675 LT, Mercedes Maybach Pullman, the Lotus Evora 400, Ford’s GT, Porsche’s Cayman GT4, and Ferrari 488 GTB were flashy and splashy;
• Concept cars weren’t so numerous this year, but were represented by nice vehicles like Audi’s concept Prologue Avant, Bentley’s EXP 10, and the Lexus LF C2.
• Production cars of interest were plentiful, including the Audi Q7, BMW 1 Series and 2 Series Gran Tourer, Renault Kadjar, Honda NSX, Hyundai Tucson, a future Nissan Micra replacement named Sway, Škoda Superb, and DS5.
• Connectivity is becoming more and more present; the industry is already experimenting intensively with vehicle-to-vehicle connectivity, vehicle-to-outer-world connectivity, and mobility services—all in search of what consumers might willingly buy.
Smartphones can now couple with vehicle infotainment systems by means of Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and MirorLink that can “connect” the vehicle with a general trend of systems compatibility.
• Driver assistance is making great strides. Ten years after ABS and ESP, the ADAS systems menu includes Park Assist (PA), Traffic Jam Assist (TJA), Advanced Emergency Braking System (AEB), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Lane Keeping Assist (LCA), Front Collision Warning (FCW) and more, now available as standard in D segments and higher, and optionally from the B segment upward.
It is now remarkable to see non-LED DRLs and to see unveiled cars without LEDs. Car makers are increasingly using front and rear lighting to emphasise their signature. And small LED modules are now more and more used in the headlamps.