GENEVA: the 'stop-start' show that fans and carmakers needed alike

The Salon International de l'Automobile Geneve 2009 was the show we had to have. Indeed, think of it the stop-start show... And not just in terms of the fuel-saving technology that seemed to be fitted (or about to be fitted) to every second new model on display. It was the show that, based on the feel of this week's press days at least, put a stop to much of the doom and gloom pervading the car industry and started many brands and fans on their way to a more upbeat mood and outlook.

Sure, there was little concrete that changed the financial realities some of the world's largest carmakers face, but, whether it was the roll-out of a bevy of top-notch new production cars or Geneva's typical mix of the super-performing and super whacky, the halls of Palexpo had a totally different feel to the doom and gloom of the Detroit, Los Angeles and Paris shows that preceded it.

If pushed to summarise in one sentence, we'd say the 2009 Salon, the 79th running of the event, was characterised by the emergence of production cars that showed that working towards lower emissions and more sustainable levels of energy use doesn't necessarily have to translate to building boring egg-shaped econoboxes.

Need proof? Look no further than the stunning new Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe (more here).

Undoubtedly one of the stars of the show -- on the opening day, save for one Stirling Moss SLR and a historical display of previous Es et al, along with its four-door partner the svelte two-door monopolised the German marque's entire stand -- tellingly, the new executive coupe arrived at Geneva with a claim of variants with fuel economy figures that better 50mpg (5.3L/100km) yet also delivers 500Nm performance.

The car, which is every inch the bold new Benz, also boasts the lowest drag coefficient (cd 0.24) of any production car in the world. Yep, that full-size coupe slips through the air more efficiently than the third-generation Toyota Prius or new Honda Insight hybrids that dominated their respective company's stands.

Volkswagen's all-new Polo (more here) was another star in Geneva's constellation.

It may look to some (including us) like a Golf that's been through a hot cycle in the Whirlpool, but it's a thoroughly modern light car that will better 4.0L/100km in its most frugal production version. And with a BlueMotion concept variant to come, one day soon European customers will be able to buy Type 3 Golf-sized packaging and world class fit and finish with a fuel economy figure that's just 3.3L/100km. That's almost 86mpg for the oldies!

Audi showed off its new A5/S5 Cabriolets (more here) but whetted more appetites with is upcoming uber-TT, the five-cylinder TT RS.

Anyone with a hint of petrol in their veins couldn't help but be entranced by the soundtrack of the car that harks back to Audi's rallying heydays of the mid-1980s. The Ingolstadt team is being tight-lipped on details, but the TT RS looks likely to be a car that champions power-to-weight and clever combustion engineering and powertrain packaging over sheer litreage. Surely a sportscar icon of these greener times in the making...

And in the spirit of low-guilt performance, how's this for a line-up of new hot hatches... Mazda 3MPS, Fiat 500 Abarth Trofeo, Focus RS, Alfa Mito GTA, MINI JCW soft-top and the stunning RenaultSport Megane RS three-door. (More on Geneva's hot hatches here).

Of course, green times provoke what some may call desperate green measures and there were some whacky local efforts in the halls of Geneva -- many in the first time Pavilion Vert.

The more important micro and city cars to catch our attention were from a mix of heritages -- from the upmarket presence of a limited edition 10th anniversary Smart mild hybrid, to GM's spunky new Spark (sub-Barina offering), to the compressed air-powered French MDI AIRpod three-wheeler set to go into production later this year.

Believe it or not, the latter is in the running for Paris' upcoming Autolib project. Like the Velib system which uses electrically-assisted bicycles, Autolib would provide short term 'rental' of car-like vehicles within the French capital.

On the subject of minicars, Indian brand Tata had a substantial presence at Geneva -- and we're not talking via its Jaguar and Land Rover ownership.

In its own right the Tata brand showed off its range including the handsome Pinifarina-designed Pr1ma "luxury" small car and an electric-powered Indica hatch. The Tata that had tongues wagging, however, was a new version of the Nano, dubbed the Europa.

With owner (Rolls Royce advisory board appointee, Fiat board member and one of the world's richest industrialists) Ratan Tata on hand to launch the restyled and specced-up micro car, there was much talk on the show floor about the potential impact of the Nano Europe and company -- even on projects like the Volkswagen Up! city car. (More on Geneva's city cars here).

Though some markets' love affair with the SUV has perhaps begun to wane, there was no shortage of attention given to the genre in Geneva. Across the various segments: Nissan, Kia and Hyundai showed handsome compact SUV concepts; while at the top end, Aston Martin revived the Lagonda name via a high-riding four-door showcar that presented quite unlike any other SUV this writer's experienced. Perhaps not as confronting as Fornasari's cut-and-shut Porsche Cayenne also displayed at Geneva, but close!

Butchered bahnstormers aside, Geneva has a reputation as being the 'supercar nutter' show. The show specifically accommodates the supercar and boutique brands plus many of the tuning houses -- some with names that are familiar (Pagani, Brabus, Ruf, Rinspeed), others less so (Gumpert, FAB-Design, Artega, Mansory).

Lamborghini rolled out another Murcielago with more grunt (more here) and Brabus continued to shoehorn huge engines into increasingly smaller Mercedes models. No, they aren't selling a V8 A-Class yet but if a bi-turbo V12 C-Class is your cup of kickarse...

In 2009 some of the performance protagonists played lip service to the green themes -- showing so-called hybrids that will likely never be built -- but some key marques were serious about tackling environment issues associated with performance. Bentley launched its flex-fuel Continental Super Sport (more here), Ferrari confirmed it was testing a hybrid model and Tesla announced it would partner with Brabus in Europe to produce customised versions of its start-up EVs.

Bespoke makers such as pure performance brand Koenigsegg were also on the fast but frugal case. The latter showed its Quant pure electric luxury sedan concept and claims the car -- with 512hp, a 0-100km/h time of under 5.5sec and thin-film conformal photovoltaic cells -- will be on sale in two years.

We're not sure that's achievable -- Fisker was there claiming similar timing -- but on past performance, it's more likely to happen than the all-wheel-drive turbo-rotary range-extended carbon-tubbed Fraser-Nash Namir by Guigiaro! (More of Geneva's wild and whacky show stars here).

Embattled Ford and GM and their 'verandah' brands Saab and Volvo put on a brave face. Saab's 1X was rolled out -- again! It's a Subaru Outback aping 9-3X (more here) and smacks off too little too late. Even in its second showing Volvo's S60 concept confirmed at least one Swedish brand knows how to draw (if not build) handsome cutting-edge cars. Let's hope it's around long enough to build the real thing...

BMW's Concept 5 Series Gran Turismo (more here) shot its bolt ahead of the show's opening with a web launch but didn't fail to attract a crowd for the entirety of the first two press days. We're still not sure whether they were amused, bemused or confused... Like us...