History and Importance of the Geneva Motor Show

1.  Introduction

The International Geneva Motor Show, commonly known as the Geneva Motor Show, is an exposition of the most trendy, important, and relevant brands on the automobile industry (Auto Express, 2017).

Widely believed Europe’s most important cars exposition, this event is holding some of the most high-priced and high-value car launches in record. It is one of the most important dates on the car lovers calendar. (Auto Express, 2017).

The first time the Geneva Motor Show was held, was in the year 1905. It is almost as old as the invention of the motor vehicle. Since then, it has been holding the debuts from some of the most iconic cars in history. For example: The Jaguar E-Type, the Aston Martin DB7, and the Range Rover. All of these, were presented to the public on Geneva press conferences (Auto Express, 2017).

The 87th Geneva Motor Show was celebrated on Thursday, 9^th of March, 2017 for ten days. Car brands, such as Ferrari, McLaren and Lamborghini, introduced to the public faster, more advance and more luxurious versions of their sports cars. Not just that, extravagant SUVs were showcased by Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz this year event (Wiener-Bronner, D. 2017).

2. Methodology

This report is going to be a documentary recompilation of online articles from reputable newspapers and automobile magazines, such as Bloomberg CNN; Auto Express; Car Magazine and Top Gear. All relevant about the history and importance of the Geneva International Motor Show.

3. The Exposition

The 2017 Geneva International Motor Show was hosted at the Palexpo Arena, in the city of Geneva in Switzerland. This year’s event has been open to the public from 9 of March for 10 days (Pollard, 2017).

The world’s biggest car companies were converging at this exposition to show off their best innovations to the market. Electric technology, autonomous driving, and lots of horsepower were the dominant topics of the event (Elliott et al., 2017).

As it was mentioned before, two examples of the high-priced and luxurious cars presented on the event this year are: The Lamborghini Huracán and the Ferrari which is priced at ‎€292,000 or $308,000 (Elliott et al., 2017).

Despite the fact that Tesla (the biggest electric car company at the moment) did not appear this year at the show, other automakers promised to reveal new electric vehicles. That is the case of Renault, that said they would unveil an “EV surprise,” and Toyota, declared that would show off a new electric car concept named the “i-TRIL Concept.” (Wiener-Bronner, D. 2017).

4. Iconic Showcases

It has been a long period between the beginning of the automobile industry begun to debut at 1903 to the present. Along the years had been numerous presentations and introductions of new models that can be said, shocked the public and the market. According to Jamieson (2017), from Top Gear, the following are some of the most iconic vehicles ever presented on Geneva, since the first days of this exposition:

• 1929, Mercedes SSK. The car was created before the great depression. Drivers like Rudolf Caracciola, and thanks to this machine, who was attracted to the first time he saw it, won races in Argentina, Northern Ireland and a series of Grand Prix races across Europe.
• 1935, Citroen Traction Avant. This vehicle was the pioneer introducing the monocoque chassis, full independent suspension and front wheel drive.
• 1952, Fiat 8V. This model came with a two-litre V8 engine, that produced 125 horsepower, an aluminium sump, forged crankshaft, polished heads and four-into-one headers made from stainless steel. It is said that the 8V was probably the most advance European car of that era.
• 1961, Jaguar E-type. When this car was unveiled in Geneva, it caused such an uproar that a second vehicle had to be bought, from Coventry, to satisfy the demand for test drives at the event. The very same, Enzo Ferrari, said that the E-Type was the most beautiful car he had ever seen.
• 1963, Mercedes 230SL. Aluminium panels reduced the car weight. A short wheel base and double wishbone suspension given a superior handling. All these elements, I addition of a fuel-injected engine, makes this machine a serious competitor to Ferrari’s models.
• 1971, Lamborghini Countach. The road-going version of the vehicle had a five-litre V12 engine. Although, the 25^th Anniversary model came with the 5.2-litre version of the engine and 425 horsepower.
• 1995, Ferrari F50. Thanks to the 4.7-litre V12 engine with 510 horsepower, in addition a Pininfarina design, this car got the major attention of that year’s event.

5. Conclusion

As a conclusion, the Geneva International Motor Show, not only has become as an industrial exposition for companies to sell their products, but also has become a space to display technological innovations to the public. Similarly, the exposition is an opportunity to have the chance to look in a close perspective, and even touch and experience the feeling of a luxurious and high performance car for the majority of enthusiast of sport and classic automobiles.

6. References

Auto Express (2017). Geneva Motor Show. Retrieved from http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/geneva-motor-show

Pollard, T. (2017). Don’t miss a single Geneva motor show story with our handy guide. Retrieved from http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-events/geneva/2017/geneva-motor-show-2017-preview-a-z-of-all-the-new-cars/

Elliott H., Behrmann E., & Rauwald C. (eds.). (2017). The Most Breathtaking Cars at the Geneva Motor Show. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/photo-essays/2017-03-08/the-most-breathtaking-cars-at-the-geneva-motor-show

Wiener-Bronner D. (2017). Jobs report; Geneva Motor Show. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/05/investing/stocks-week-ahead/

Jamieson, C. (2017). The ten biggest debuts from the Geneva Motor Show. Retrieved from https://www.topgear.com/car-news/geneva-motor-show/ten-biggest-debuts-geneva-motor-show#1