Europe's weather is cold and its finances are frozen but in Switzerland the automotive scene is about to get very, very warm. BRENT DAVISON previews the upcoming Geneva Salon
The world's motor show season starts with Detroit in January but the real attention grabber, the spiritual season opener, is Switzerland's Geneva Salon, a classic show that marks the end of the European winter and the start of the new model season.
Geneva is an important show for Australia because, as a melting pot of Asian and European brands, it gives a strong indication of the new models that will be coming to Australia in the next 12 or 18 months.
So with the show due to start on March 8 we decided to take a look at some of the new tin heading our way.
General Motors-owned German brand Opel will be emergent in Australia this year so Vauxhall's new small SUV, the Mokka, will be a car worth looking at because there is every chance it could be here next year as a German import.
Mokka stands 4280mm long and seats five. Like many of its contemporaries it will be sold with a choice of front- or all-wheel-drive, fuel saving stop-start engine technology and a choice of three engines, a 1.6 litre petrol, 1.4 litre turbo-petrol and 1.7 litre turbo-diesel.
Fiat will unveil its 500 litre station wagon in Geneva - described as a five-door, multi-purpose vehicle - but anyone expecting some kind of rotund, fun-loving variant of the current 500 might well be disappointed.
Fiat has chopped the 500 behind the windscreen and grafted a box on the back in what appears to be a fairly unflattering execution.
Word is it will come here, even though the official line from the importer is that a decision is still to be made.
Fiat stablemate Alfa Romeo will do a lot better in design terms and is expected to have a production version of its stunning 4C concept car ready for Switzerland.
Will it come to Australia? We can only hope.
Volkswagen's younger brother, Skoda, has been flexing its corporate muscle of late and will do so again in Geneva, revealing its five-door Citigo mini to the world.
Based on Volkswagen's Up! city car, the new five-door version will be successively launched in European markets together with the three-door version from mid-May which probably means we will see them on Australian roads late this year or, more likely, early next.
Skoda wants to be building and selling 1.5 million cars a year by 2018 (about double the numbers of last year) which means Citigo and Australia figure strongly in the corporate plan.
Like the Volkswagen Up! on which it is based, Citigo gets a 1.0 litre, three-cylinder petrol engine with either 44kW or 55kW.
Korean specialist four-wheel-drive maker SsangYong will showcase its new XIV-2 convertible concept car in Geneva.
The successor to the XIV-1 concept presented at last year's Frankfurt Motor Show, the car is being billed as a premium crossover concept.
With styling themed as ''a special experience with fun'', it has been built to blend the characteristics of a robust and powerful SUV with the dynamic style of an open-top sports coupe and to that end features a one-touch, automatically opening soft-top roof.
As a production possibility, though, it is a strategic model for the global market with an appearance designed to appeal to a younger generation of buyers and a size - 4166mm overall length and 1820mm width on a 2600mm wheelbase - designed to fit crowded streets.
Japanese car maker Mitsubishi is making a leap of faith in Switzerland next month, choosing the show as the global launch pad for its new ASX, a car that will reflect the start of change in the company's design language.
The company is saying almost nothing about the car but we understand it will be here next year.
For its part, Citroen will extend its C4 range in Geneva with the launch of its C4 AirCross, a new compact SUV that will join the C4 hatchback, seven-seat Picasso people mover and DS4.
Based on Mitsubishi's Outlander, AirCross gives Citroen its first compact SUV. Expect it to have diesel and petrol engine options as well as front- or all-wheel-drive choices and stop-start engine technology when it arrives here towards the end of the year.
Legendary sports car maker Ferrari is promising a new GT car to replace the 599 but at this stage there is no word on how it will look, what it will be called or what engine will power it.
More can be said for Maserati's Kubang SUV.
Yes, it was revealed in Frankfurt last year but the car that will be shown in Switzerland will have an interior (the Frankfurt cars had black windows to stop people looking in) and will be far closer to production-ready and yes, it will come here one day.
Something for everyone? Certainly and Drive will be reporting on the show from Geneva next month.
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