2013’s Geneva auto show opened last week. In spite of the crisis in Europe, the atmosphere was positive this year with an intriguing return of some really expensive supercars. A lot of sexy stylish concept cars were on hand to make a play for wealthy drivers’ emotions. In contrast to the shows of the last few years, totally focused on eco-friendly cars, the 2013 Geneva show highlights the comeback of dream cars so pleasant to see, to drive and to talk about, even if most of us will never actually have one.
Indeed, at the outset of the show the VW Golf—well removed from hypercar territory—was declared Car of the Year in Europe by a panel of 59 automotive journalists from 23 European countries.
The supercars on display included not one but three Lamborghini Venenos (at a frosty €3 million apiece), the McLaren P1, the Ferrari Enzo, the Maserati Quattroporte, the Bentley Flying Spur, and the Rolls-Royce Wraith.
But again concept-cars are the stars of this 2013 Geneva auto show. We liked Audi A3 g-tron, BMW i3, Citroen Technospace, Honda NSX, Kia concept (visible dynamic light), and Mitsubishi GR-HEV
We do regret the rather small number of new production car debuts. Most of the cars shown at Geneva were previously revealed at Paris Mondial and NAIAS these last 6 months. Nevertheless, we liked the Audi RS Q3, the BMW 3 Series GT, the Infiniti Q50, the Lexus LS300, the Qoros 3 (first model of the new Chinese Brand), the Peugeot 2008, the Renault Captur, and the Toyota Auris.
Across all segments, the contribution of the unlimited styling possibilities of LEDs and the differentiating looks of advanced lighting technology and technique were visually obvious, on rear as well as on front face looks. This Geneva auto show proves once more that there is room for new lighting technologies not just to offer improved performance and safety but also to help reach the hearts (and wallets) of car buyers. Sincerely yours
DVN Editor in Chief