If you’re looking to buy a car there’s plenty to see at the Motorshow, but little to engage the casual visitor says ROSIE CHARALAMBOUS
IT’S CERTAINLY the biggest ever for Cyprus in terms of the number of cars on display, and also square footage of exhibition space, but having spent most of Tuesday at the International State Fair grounds attending press conferences for the much hyped Motorshow 2010 I came away with a sense of disappointment.
Yes, if you want to buy a car, you have the chance at the show to see pretty well every model available in Cyprus – including some vintage classic cars, and some new vehicles getting their Cyprus premiere – but there’s a distinctly mundane feel about the whole affair.
Basically it’s just like an enormous showroom, with cars lined up one next to the other and few exhibitors really making an all-out effort to generate interest. In almost every hall you are greeted by a sea of vehicles, in some cases different marques are standing right next to each other with just a sign on the wall to indicate that you have moved from one make to another.
Peugeot have made an effort by bringing the eye-catching 908HY hybrid concept car which sits proudly at the centre of their display, but then the effect is spoiled by cramming as many cars as possible all around it.
UNICARS have a huge pavilion, packed to the gunnels with Audis, VWs, Seats and Skodas – including the Yeti, which was officially launched at the show this week.
BMW’s stand looks classy, largely thanks to the colour scheme (almost all the cars on show are silver) and clever lighting which highlights the cars, but again they are all just parked on the same level.
What is missing in almost (but not quite all) the displays is creativity: putting the star attraction on a plinth or dais, or at an angle – something (anything) to draw the eye and pull the punters in.
There’s also very little in the way of interactive attractions. Toyota bucks the trend by having a couple of engine mock-ups and the “Ecodriver Simulator” which aims to test your green driving credentials. Mine, according to this, are appalling!! In my defence, however, I am not a ‘gamester’ and found the whole set up very off-putting, actually feeling rather dizzy when I got out of the “car” but I bet youngsters who spend a lot of time playing video games will do very well indeed, and, most importantly, it will teach them something about economical driving.
Crammed into a small and very basic space are what have in the past been one of the highlights of the Motor Show: the classic cars presented by the Friends of Historic Cars (FIPA) whose members kindly lend their vehicles as an added attraction. From a couple of delicious Model T Fords (1917 and 1918), a 1948 Wolseley 8 and a lovely old Chevrolet to a 1977 Ferrari 308, a couple of 1960s Jaguars, a Lotus, Mercedes and some rally machines like a 1983 Renault S Turbo, the bygone days of motoring are brought to life – or they would be, if you could actually walk around the cars and inspect them from every angle. You can’t, because they’ve been squashed into a small (uncarpeted and thoroughly unappealing) space almost as an afterthought.
The ‘accessories’ section is right at the back of one pavilion, and though there are several stands with quad bikes and suchlike, it’s much smaller than I remember in the past. Tucked in between the stands is the classic motorcycle display, which consists of five bikes parked on the carpet; no background, no explanations – what a waste.
Nearby is the Police stand, which was manned by a bored looking policewoman. And that really sums up my overall impression: no effort to “engage” people. In the past we’ve had the seat belt simulator, Toyota’s “pit stop challenge” where visitors raced the clock to change the wheels on a Formula One car, and plenty of rally simulators. These give visitors the chance to have fun, learn something and generally feel excited about the show.
That said, there is plenty to see if you are simply shopping for a new car, and most dealers have special deals on for the duration of the show. New and recent arrivals include Fiat’s 500C and Punto Evo; Alfa Romeo’s MiTo, Volvo’s S80 1.6 diesel, BMW’s X1 (and they have a very tasty Alpina B7 on show too), Jaguar’s XJ, Peugeot’s 3008 and 5008, the newly-arrived Chevrolet Spark, and the brand new Opel Astra and Skoda Yeti.
There are more cars on show than ever before, but frankly a Motor Show should be more than a “panayiri” for potential buyers. I know there are hopes that it will boost flagging sales, as it certainly has in the past, and our hard-pressed car dealers have made quite an outlay to take part but, if it’s worth doing, surely it is worth doing properly.
