2018 Geneva motor show – Driven To Write

Quo Vadis, Luxus?

Defining luxury in an age of conspicuous consumption isn’t easy. Judging by two concepts encapsulating futuristic decadence, this task will not become any less challenging in the years to come.

rolls-royce-vision-next-main — Dr Eldon Tyrell’s personal transport, photo (c) blog.dupontregistry.com

The fight for luxury supremacy of the future officially started in March 2018, at the Geneva International Motor Show. There, Aston Martin chief designer – pardon: Vice President & Chief Creative Officer – Marek Reichman openly criticised the traditional purveyors of automotive luxury, namely Crewe’s Bentley and Goodwood’s Rolls-Royce, of pandering to an obsolete definition of top-end motoring.

Continue reading “Quo Vadis, Luxus?”

Geneva 2018 Reflections – Minor Distractions

As always, there’s more than just cars to the Geneva International Motor Show.

The glamour of Geneva, photo (c) DrivenToWrite

Geneva: Hotbed of glamorous wealth, elegant refuge of the well-off elite amidst the mountains and Lac Léman. London Mayfair with a Franco-Swiss twist and more of a Continental sense of style.

In truth, the impression the average visitor, let alone motoring correspondent on a budget, gets of Genève is a decidedly different one. First of all, Geneva is far more French in feel. The streets and public transport are far dirtier, the average encounters with locals far less courteous than in German-speaking Switzerland. In large parts, Geneva also feels rather stuck in the 1980s, if it wasn’t for the plethora of oh-so-2018 Bentley Bentaygas and Mercedes-Maybach in the streets. Continue reading “Geneva 2018 Reflections – Minor Distractions”

Geneva 2018 Reflections – Are Objects in the Mirror Closer Than They Appear?

For Robertas Parazitas it’s been a strange Salon. Great for star-spotting and social interaction, but none of the new crop of premieres and concepts lit the flame of his desire, or the warm feeling that the future of motordom is going to be all right, after all.

Last year my personal favourites were the Alpine A110 and the Jaguar I-Pace, both machines I could aspire to owning in the right set of circumstances. Wim Oubouter’s Microlino, an electric Isetta hommage also appealed – it was back this year, with sales reported to Continue reading “Geneva 2018 Reflections – Are Objects in the Mirror Closer Than They Appear?”

Geneva 2018 Reflections – Eva

The way in which we view both the automobile and gender is radically changing. Car shows are not.

This photo has been viewed, shared and commented upon more than any other published as part of my reporting on the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show.

I had included a caption that remained largely unnoticed:

Continue reading “Geneva 2018 Reflections – Eva”

The Tri-Arrow Takes Aim

Two impressive Geneva concepts from India’s largest carmaker suggests a growing maturity and ambition. We investigate.

Tata 45X concept. Image credit: burlappcar

It may surprise you to learn that Tata Motors have been part of the Indian automotive landscape for over 70 years. For most of that time, Ratan Tata’s motor business concentrated on the commercial field, before becoming famous for the Nano, billed as the World’s cheapest car. But they are probably best known for their surprising (and lucrative) 2008 acquisition of what became Jaguar Land Rover.

In its two and a half decades in the passenger car business, Tata have been predominantly a domestic player, but as the Indian car market has grown both in size and relative sophistication, Tata, in conjunction with its design and engineering satellites (not to mention independent partners) in both the UK and Italy, has reshaped its domestic offerings to compete with the big names.

The commercial failure of the entry-level Nano illustrated how difficult it is to Continue reading “The Tri-Arrow Takes Aim”

Ceed of Change

The 2018 Kia Ceed is now punctuation-free and in possession of a new, more sober attire. Sound familiar?

Notwithstanding one or two brave and ultimately doomed adventures into the leftfield during the early 1970s, the European C-segment has never been a bastion of progressive design. So it should be with little or no surprise that we consider the ongoing convergence of the principal players, not just in engineering and layout, but if the current Geneva motor show is a reliable indicator, in styling terms as well.

Despite its Korean heritage, it’s probably inaccurate to Continue reading “Ceed of Change”

An Amble On Akeman Street When The Sun Is Low

The 2018 Geneva auto show produced a fair number of thought-provoking cars. The new Volvo V60 is one of them.

Automotive News has a list of hits and misses. They like the Volvo. I do as well. Volvo have made it look sufficiently like the S90 to make sense and have made it look sufficiently different so that you don’t mix the two cars up. Continue reading “An Amble On Akeman Street When The Sun Is Low”

Geneva 2018 Reflections – The Lion the Cross and the Curve

Two significant saloon cars debuted at Palexpo this week, but according to our man pounding the show floor, only one makes the grade.

As any traveller will tell you, getting upgraded from economy is much easier said than done. Indeed, the more habituated one is to travel economy, the key to that threshold appears even more arbitrary and capricious. PSA knows all about this. Having squandered brand-Peugeot’s upmarket credentials during the 1980s and having got their creepy ‘drive-sexy’ phase out of the way latterly, the Lion of Belfort has been painfully clawing its way back to some semblance of stylistic and reputational credibility.

Last year’s EcotY-winning 3008 crossover marked a turning point for Peugeot, being perhaps the first Sochaux product to Continue reading “Geneva 2018 Reflections – The Lion the Cross and the Curve”

Geneva 2018 Reflections – Above and Beyond

Reporting from the 88th Geneva motor show, Driven to Write, in conjunction with Auto-Didakt searches in vain for signs of progress amid the weaponised SUV landscape.

Having launched what is quite likely the star of the Geneva motor show in the comely form of the Jaguar I-Pace, JLR are quite understandably basking in peer-group approbation and the warm glow of being on-zeitgeist. But meanwhile, there is more conventional fare to be made and sold – and a bottom line to be protected. After all, introducing a BEV is a witheringly expensive business, especially one whose sales potential still remains a relative unknown.

So offering what is arguably the yang to the I-Pace’s ying, JLR also debuted the limited-run Range Rover SV Coupé – all £220,000 (before options) of it. To be constructed at JLR’s Special Vehicle Operations atelier in Coventry, only 999 examples will Continue reading “Geneva 2018 Reflections – Above and Beyond”

Geneva 2018 Reflections – A Flock of Seagulls

You are now entering the Fun Zone at Palexpo…

… Please beware of flying chevrons… (or boomerangs, perhaps?)

Geneva 2018 Reflections – Song to the Sybil

Continuing his review of the 88th Geneva motor show press days, Kris Kubrick consults with the oracles at GFG Style.

Last week, we presented the CAD-rendered images of GFG Style’s newest concept. GFG is the latest business venture of perhaps the World’s most famous (certainly most influential) car designer following his surprise departure from the VW-owned Ital Design, a carrozzeria now rendered doubly irrelevant.

The Sybilla concept was reviewed here in less than eulogistic fashion and to be fair, the official images were Continue reading “Geneva 2018 Reflections – Song to the Sybil”

As is now a Driven to Write tradition, roving reporter Robertas Parazitas reports live from Geneva at the 2018 Car of the Year awards. Continue reading “European Car of the Year 2018 – The Winner Is…”