GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: 2015 Preview

The green push is getting stronger and stronger, but sex still sells and sports cars will dominate the headlines during early March's Geneva Motor show.

The 85th running of the show will feature new sports cars from Lamborghini, Ferrari, Audi, McLaren, Porsche and Koenigsegg.

That's not to say there won't be plenty of cars with more relevance to daily life and plenty of future-glimpsing concept cars, too, but the sports cars will be the ones on the front pages. And even though Ferrari's 458-replacing 488 GTB has already been revealed in pictures, there will be plenty more...

The resource-limited British firm is bringing its A Game, with at least 600bhp from the 6.0-litre motor and significant weight savings.

It won't be just a track-day special, though, because the Vulcan is expected to be road legal – somewhere, just. You get the feeling, though, that Aston is biding its time before AMG acquiesces and lets it use its 4.0-litre biturbo motor.

Audi
The German premium maker is hitting Geneva with not one, not two, not three, but four versions of the second-generation R8.

Audi is also planning to show a fully electric R8 e-tron model at Geneva, too. No word concerning straight-line performance, but the battery-electric car is expected to boast a range of almost 500km.

Audi's R8 GT3 almost won the Bathurst 12 Hour race a few days ago and it has won just about every major production-car endure on the planet. The new one will be at Geneva. With the biggest wings the FIA's GT3 formula will allow, plus a deep, double-deck front splitter and integrated roll cage, the R8 GT3 offers everything a team needs to go turn-key racing.

Ferrari 488
We actually liked the 458 and we looooooooved the Speciale version, which we reckon will become one of the great collector cars of its era.

But we're not sad the 488 GTB is coming. Closely related to the California T's biturbo V8, the 488 GTB engine develops 493kW and 760Nm. It revs hard, pulling peak power at 8000rpm, but torque now peaks at 3000 revs, providing a tremendous spread of performance.

The 458's 4.5-litre V8 jumps almost 50kW in power, and delivers 220 more Isaacs at only half the revs of the previous model. All that performance is channeled to the rear wheels by a stronger seven-speed dual-clutch transmission with higher ratios in the lower gears.

Acceleration to 100km/h takes just three seconds and it tops out at 330km/h. There are also efficiency gains: 11.4L/100km and 260g/km of CO2 emissions.

New technology tweaks include second-generation Slide Slip Angle Control system for the active dampers, F1-Trac traction control and E-diff to control power slides. Ferrari says it's all tailored to let average drivers look like pro-racers.

Glickenhaus
When wealthy car collector and finance boss, James Glickenhaus, turned to Pininfarina to build him a uniquely bodied car off Ferrari's Enzo, it turned out a jaw-droppingly beautiful coupe evoking memories of Ferrari's P4 racing cars of the 1960s.

Now Glickenhaus has built his second-generation car; only this time he's selling it to the public through a car company named SCG (Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus) and the car will be the SCG003C. The "C" is for "Competizione".

Koenigsegg
Remember Koenigsegg? Well, it's back and it's going to show two new supercars in Geneva, including a 400+km/h monster.

The micro-volume Swedish carmaker claims the Regara will have more power than its 985kW One:1.

Given the 450km/h claimed top speed for the One:1, that could make the Regara something frighteningly fast, even for competition-standard drivers.

Also promised is the Agera RS. The track-focused version of the Agera R will have more power than the current car's humble 820kW and a new aero package to try to keep it on the ground at the 400km/h it's expected to reach.

For all that, a sub-3.0 second sprint to 100km/h seems quite pedestrian.

In the meantime, Lamborghini will show its fastest version of the Aventador to date, the Aventador SV.

Lotus
The Evora seems like it's been around a long time since the over-reach of the Dany Bahar era.

Camouflaged versions of a new Evora have been doing the rounds in Europe, complete with bigger front air intakes, hinting at a power hike up to around 400bhp.

McLaren
The 675LT will make its debut alongside the wickedly powerful P1 GTR.

Sharing the 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 from the 650S, but with more power the 675LT is named for 675 horsepower (496kW) and "long tail".

McLaren has hinted that it could dump 100kg of weight and that it will be the lightest, quickest and purest version in the range. Production is set for later this year.

Porsche
The GT4 Cayman we already know about, but the 283kW variant has already claimed a class-leading Nordschleife lap time of 7:40, 13 seconds faster than the Cayman GTS.

Due on sale in Australia in July from $190,300, the manual-only GT4 will be $30,000 more than the 250kW Cayman GTS. The bottom end of the 911 family is just $20,000 away.

Everything else
Audi is believed to be bringing the production version of the RS3, powered by the latest version of the raucous in-line five-cylinder turbo petrol powerhouse. Expect 362bhp and 0-100km/h in 4.3 seconds. There will be a top speed of 174mph (no limiter here...) and Audi's still insisting it has no plans for a sedan version. Pity. It'd be gorgeous...

There will also be a Prologue Shooting Brake concept in Geneva and unlike the production shooting brakes of its premium rivals, Mercedes-Benz, the Audi concept will be true to the original philosophy of two doors.

BMW is bringing all the sexy it can muster to Geneva, to unveil its 2-Series Gran Tourer. Prepare for an all-new wave of arguments from people who don't think BMW should be doing a people mover.

There will also be a facelift of the 1-Series, which will receive the new family of engines from the MINI, including three-cylinder engines in both petrol and diesel formats, as well as the Cooper S's four-cylinder powerplant.

After 54 years away from the scene, the Borgward name will be back in Geneva, complete with plans to bring its concept car into production and backed by Chinese money.

Did they not notice a cashed-up German brand has just given up a decade-long attempt to restore another dormant German luxury car brand?

Ford has already claimed a lot of publicity with its five-door Focus RS and this is the first time it will be shown to the masses. All-wheel drive grip and more than 235kW make it Ford's WRX STi or Golf R.

It will be here midway through next year, largely because the Saarlouis plant won't start churning them out until late this year. Price estimates are in the $50,000-$60,000 range.

Honda is said to be prepping the production version of its Civic Type R for launch in Geneva. It's already been seen in concept (well, semi-concept) form and will be faster than Golf R, topping out above 270km/h. Australian buyers will see it in local showrooms from early 2016.

It's to be facelift central for Hyundai in Geneva. The i30 will get a visual tickle, complete with a 136kW turbo four-cylinder flagship.

Then there's the bigger i40 – just weeks away from landing in dealerships – and the i20 Coupe, a three-door hatch. Is this the end of the delightfully oddball Veloster?

The biggest news, though, will be the concept car that previews the Tuscon successor to the ix35. Expect it on sale in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Infiniti is anticipated to roll out its QX30 concept car to plug the gap in its SUV range. It will be near production ready in Geneva, based on the Q30 hatch that's due in most global showrooms before 2015 ends.

A bit worn out from all of its XE exertions, the main Jaguar unveil at the show will be a facelift to the XJ limousine. And the extra-long XJ limousine.

The big news for Kia, literally, could be the fourth-generation of its Optima flagship. Or it might not. Originally slated for early April's New York motor show, the Optima seems to be being teased by Kia, which says the Geneva show car is a "D-Segment" car and nothing more.

Kia Australia is keen to bring the turbo-petrol and the diesel-electric hybrid Optimas here by the fourth quarter of the year. It hopes for far higher volume than the 100 Optimas a month it currently sells.

A facelift of the baby Picanto will also be in Geneva, and that's one car still on Kia Australia's wishlist.

Mitsubishi, the forgotten man of the Japanese car industry, has sent out teaser images of a new crossover for Geneva, but it will be merely a development of the XR-PHEV concept from the Tokyo motor show in 2013.

You remember Morgan, the quaint British car maker with the wooden chassis whose cars were fettled by carpenters rather than production specialists?

Well, they're teasing an all-new model that will be shown in Geneva. It's not releasing details yet, but all Moggies are currently powered by a 4.8-litre BMW V8 – that BMW itself no longer uses. It's a lot of engine for 1200kg and the new car probably has even more engine. Maybe.

A brand of increasing relevance to Australia (again), Opel will revive the Viva badge for its new city car.

Of more interest will be a 152kW version of its Corsa, wearing the badge of the Opel Performance Centre (OPC). The Fiesta ST rival will be a three-door Corsa offering up to 280Nm of torque from its 1.6-litre turbo four pot. Top speed is 230km/h, 0-100km/h acceleration takes 6.8 seconds and NEDC fuel consumption is officially 7.5L/100km.

There's a small electric carmaker based in Lichtenstein called, quirkily, nanoFlowcell, which just rolls off the tongue. The tiny European country – like something out of a fairytale – is not known for its car industry, yet nanoFlowcell has developed a 300km/h electric vehicle that sounds suspiciously like the name of the family that owns BMW (but with a 'd' missing).

The Quant e-Sportlimousine appeared at last year's Geneva show and the Quant F will follow this time around. Out-muscling Tesla, the Quant F is an 800kW exotic offering an 800km range. Those with $1.7 million to spare... form an orderly queue here.

Renault has grown tired of watching its alliance (junior) partner, Nissan, steal all the sales with the Qashqai. So now it has a rival. The Renault Kadjar will also aim up at Mazda's CX-5.

It will arrive with the same 96kW turbodiesel 1.6 as the Qashqai and there will probably be a smaller, cheaper, less powerful 1.5-litre version as well. The fun stuff will happen with the 106kW, 2.0-litre petrol four up front.

Those chaps at Rolls-Royce have taken the roof off the Wraith. It will have a full folding soft-top roof, lined in seven layers of cloth woven from cumulonimbus clouds (probably) and will take some styling cues from the Ghost.

Skoda is attending Geneva with one word on its lips: Superb. The third-generation of one of the world's most affordable and best equipped big sedans will hit Geneva in the cut-priced pocket.

Remember Ssangyong? It's coming to Geneva with an unnamed concept car. The small crossover hatch is headed for production in the near future, set to rival Nissan's Juke.

Suzuki might not be the brand it once was, but in Geneva it will have a replacement for the Splash (not sold here) and a compact SUV to take on the Nissan Juke. The latter will be dubbed the iM-4 and will be a five-door SUV that borrows from the Jimny's rugged looks.

There will also be an iK-2, a Honda Jazz-sized concept hatchback. It will be bigger than the unstoppable Celerio and smaller than the Swift.

Europe's taxi and courier drivers are going to flock to Volkswagen's show stand in Geneva to witness the new Tauran and Caddy – one the passenger-carrying version of the other.

This time around Tauran/Caddy will sit on an enlarged version of the Golf's MQB architecture, so it should be more civilized and quiet.

There will also be a hottish Golf in town, with the GTD turbodiesel running gear plonked in a wagon body. The GTD wagon will use the same 135kW engine as the hatch.