I spent a (very) long day on Tuesday at the 2009 auto salon in Geneva. Setting out to see all the major new unveils and concept cars was a tough job, but hey, someone had to do it! The key aim of the day was to try and gauge the mood of an auto industry which is currently up against the wall in face of a global recession and plummeting sales.
While the show floor was packed with new models and concepts, there was little from the industry to suggest it had the answers to its current issues. Instead, there was a mildly defiant air of 'business as usual', but a sense it might be slowly sinking in among some that 'business as usual' might not work for very much longer. It can be hard to try and take in everything at a show as big as Geneva, whether you're on the show floor or sitting behind a computer watching the world's automotive sites fight to get pictures up first. So, as an experiment, for the last half hour of press day one, I ran around the floor shooting footage and providing commentary on (almost) all of the important launches (sorry Opel, I know the Ampera's important, but it does so little for me (visually) that I forgot to film it!).
The videos are split into three, and each lasts ten minutes or less. If you weren't on the show floor earlier this week, then hopefully they give you a sense of what it was like to be there.
The first video features Infiniti, Hyundai, Ferrari, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley and VW:
The second covers a bit more of VW, Nissan, Honda, Fisker, Dacia and Toyota:
And the third and final one covers Kia, Alfa, Ford, Aston, Magna Steyr, BMW, Mercedes and Rolls Royce - before me rounding off with a few thoughts and feelings from the show:
Check back later for more from Geneva, and as ever, if you were there, have thoughts, agree or disagree, or have a question on anything here, do leave a comment or drop me a line.
Posted by Joseph Simpson on 5th March 2009
Comments