The 84th Geneva International Motor… Show…Must go on

This year’s Geneva International Motor Show will open its doors to the public from March 6-16, 2014.  During two days before the opening, more than 10,000 media representatives from all over the world will be participating in some 65 press conferences presented by all the major automobile manufacturers.  The President of the Swiss Confederation, Mr. Didier Burkhalter, will officially open this 84th edition. The programme for this year includes some 900 vehicles for today and for tomorrow, a test track for electric cars, a wonderful array of vehicles on display, and a retrospective of the 90 years of that most mythical of automobile races: the Le Mans 24 Hours race.  700,000 visitors will be attending this not-to-be-missed annual event.

 Prior to the public opening of the Show, the journalists will come together first of all for the election of the Car of the Year. The final vote will be made to crown the victor from the seven finalists, a group that includes for the first time two models that are 100% electric: the sporty Tesla Model S and the BMW i3 city car.  Following this will be the two Press Days which will provide the opportunity for the major manufacturers to present their new models and developments to media representatives from all over the world.  65 press conferences will take place and more than a hundred world and European premiers will be presented.

On the following day the President of the Swiss Confederation, Mr. Didier Burkhalter will open the Geneva International Motor Show to the public according to a longstanding tradition.  250 exhibitors will be sharing the stage over the 110,000 square metres of the exhibition halls of Palexpo.  For the first time, the sports car manufacturers Zenvo Automotive and Ermini Automobili, as well as the preparation specialists Klassen-Automobile and Nimrod Performances, will be presenting at the Show.  In addition, new exhibitors will include the University of Helsinki Metroplia and the group AKKA Technologies in association with MBtech, all of whom will be unveiling their concepts for electric vehicles.

A test track for small electric vehicles will be laid out over an area of 870 square metres in Hall 1 in the middle of the cars on display. Visitors will have the possibility to learn about the particularities and the operation of these vehicles. They can test the acceleration, comfort and silence of these city cars which will be made available by BMW, Citroen, Mitsubishi and Renault.

All of the economic and ecological vehicles being exhibited on the stands that emit no more than 95 grams of CO2 per kilometre will be presented in a brochure produced by the Motor Show and SuisseEngergie.

Finally, in the 1,800 square meters of Hall 3 one can savour the Audi R18 e-tron quattro that the Swiss driver Marcel Fässler and his two team mates drove to victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours race in 2012, the first victory for a hybrid car, as well as the Sauber-Mercedes C9 from Peter Sauber, which raced at Le Mans in 1989.  In all, 20 race cars tracing the 90 years history of the Le Mans 24 Hours race will be on display in a retrospective realized in collaboration with the Automobil Club de l’Ouest (AOC) and the support of the time-keeper Rolex.

The Geneva International Motor Show is a member of the « Top 5 » motor shows worldwide and the only one recognised by the OICA (International Organisation of Automobile Constructors) that takes place annually in Europe.

The official website www.salon-auto.ch is continually updated.