86th Geneva Motor Show opens its doors

THE Geneva Motor Show opened its doors this week (March 3-13), with plenty for petrol heads to see and do – and the usual plethora of new models, concepts and other motoring accoutrements.

All the key players from the global motor industry are there, including all the major manufacturers, plus top automotive designers and preparation specialists, presenting more than 120 world and European premiers.

Some 200 exhibitors from 30 countries are taking part, occupying 77,323 square metres in the seven exhibition halls of Palexpo. Between 650,000 and 700,000 visitors will be attending during the eleven days of the event, which makes the Motor Show the most important exhibition in Switzerland.

The election of the Car of the Year 2016 took place before the opening of the show, and this year’s winner is the Opel/Vauxhall Astra, which was the jury’s favourite by a narrow margin, gathering 309 points, versus the 294 points of the second placed car, the Volvo XC90.

The other finalists were the Audi A4 (189 points), BMW 7 Series (143 points), Jaguar XE (163 points), Mazda MX-5 (202 points) and Skoda Superb (147 points). The jury is comprised of 58 leading motoring journalists from 22 European countries.

A jubilant Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, president and CEO of Opel, collected the trophy. “I think it’s the mix. We say it’s the best car we’ve ever built because it’s lighter, it’s very light, it’s very efficient, it drives very dynamic, but it’s still comfortable for everyday use, and it’s superbly connected,” he said.

“It has our new infotainment generation and it has features like massage seats and like the matrix light, which you don’t find in this class, so we have tried our best to build an outstanding car, and the Jury has seen that.”