Concept previews next Colt

This is one of the concept cars we'll see at Geneva at the beginning of March, and is the close to final preview of what the next Mitsubishi Colt will be like.

It's a good 5-seater and will have a choice from 1.0 or 1.2 petrol engines with a lot of 'mild hybrid' technology including stop-start and regenerative braking.

They're calling it Concept Global Small, and the fact that it is being shown at Geneva confirms that it is bound for Europe soon after its sales launch in Thailand.

An electric story from Geneva

There are lots of stories at every motor show, but one of the key ones from Geneva's annual motorfest this year is that hybrids are no longer niche.

Right, it is a story that has been developing for some time. Indeed, it is more of a mainstream one in the US for some time now, but the European preoccupation with diesels kind of left the technology to the couple of Japanese manufacturers spearheading the movement, Toyota/Lexus and Honda.

They still made statements at Geneva. Toyota revealed its Auris hybrid, coming to Ireland in the summer as the marque's first standard-model hybrid in Europe. Lexus gave us the CT200h, the first premium compact hybrid here, and Honda rolled out its CR-Z 2+2 sporty hybrid, also the first of its kind to get a manual gearbox.

But the big European boys are in the game too, and with a vengeance.

For instance, Audi had a full hybrid version of its brand new A8. BMW showed a hybrid concept version of its new 5 Series, and we're pretty sure this is about ready for production. Citroen and Peugeot highlighted their parent group's 2011-due diesel hybrid system in several concepts, the latter with the quite beautiful SR1 and 5 by Peugeot.

Even the power merchants aren't being left outside the party. A Ferrari hybrid? Yep, at least in concept form, and showing the underpinnings of its 599 concept with mirrors and no smoke. Right, the car will still have a 6.0 V12, but the lithium battery/electric motor part of the drivetrain will cut fuel consumption by a serious 35 percent. Porsche hid its hybrid Cayenne in a corner behind a super-dooper 918 Spider concept, but was nevertheless making noise about it. At the same time pushing to the front of the stand its racecar 911 GT3 R hybrid. And the Mercedes-Benz snazzy F 800 concept (below) that was mainly there to show the styling future of its big cars was set on the new rear-drive platform that will carry plug-in hybrid and full electric variants in a future not far away.

And Volkswagen, which is still mostly focusing on its BlueMotion diesel fuel-sippers, released a hybrid version of its new generation Touareg SUV, which shares its underbits with the Porsche Cayenne. Subaru indicated that it is going this route too with a concept hybrid Tourer.

The other side of the hybrid equation, the extended-range option, was also much in evidence. We've already seen concepts of the Chevy Volt and Opel's Ampera, the prototype version of which was driven from Russelsheim to Geneva just to show it can go the distance. This is a compact ERV, and we've seen it before, but indicating that larger Opel models will get similar powertrains was the Flextreme GT/E concept.

These cars are powered fully by an electric drivetrain, and the batteries are recharged as required by a relatively small static petrol engine tuned to work at its maximum efficiency regardless of the driving conditions. At the other end of the size scale, Suzuki showed a similar ERV variant of its Swift supermini.

And then there's the pure electric revolution. Now in real time.

Nissan's Leaf compact, coming to Ireland in a year's time, was a key model on that brand's stand. Equally, Mitsubishi's little i-MiEV, due to go on sale here pretty soon, has been reproducing into the Peugeot Ion and Citroen C-Zero. These are real production models too. Mitsubishi also had an electric concept of its new ASX compact crossover (above right). We also saw the plug-in Subaru Stella electric minicar debuted at Tokyo last October, and Hyundai had its i10 electric.

SEAT had its first electric concept, the iBe, a smooth looking 2+2 coupe, while for sheer mindblowing looks, the Citroen Survolt 2-seat concept (above) also has an all-electric drivetrain. Kia too, had an electric variant of its new Venga on their stand.

Altogether, the electric story in Geneva was really sparking along. And it isn't all in the distant future, or for other markets, either. The next chapter will be very much an Irish one, and coming to these columns, courtesy of our old friend Nissan, before the end of spring. Brian Byrne & Trish Whelan.

Aston, Caddy, get design awards

Car designers round the world have voted the Aston Martin Rapide and the Cadillac Converj as their favourite designs for 2009. Their creators received awards during the Geneva Motor Show last week.

The two cars won Best Production and Best Concept categories respectively of the Car Design of the Year Awards. The Awards result from a poll of the readers of Car Design News, the global online resource for the professional design community.

The Awards were presented at the Car Design Night event in Geneva last week, on the first evening of the motor show.

Geneva: the verdicts

Well, it was a shorter visit than usual to our favourite motor show of the year, Geneva, but we managed to get to see most of what was on display. We now finish the report we began last Thursday and hope that it gives a flavour of an event that offered, as always, hope for even better cars in our near future. BB/TW

Previewing a replacement for the 407 due to arrive next year, the 5 by Peugeot concept is a beautiful looking as you would expect from the brand. The 2.0 diesel hybrid powertrain in the concept claims a 99g/km CO2 emissions level.

The Lion brand also showed its SR1 folding hardtop coupe concept, for which words are superfluous when a picture tells it all.

Taking the styling cues from the Alfa baby MiTo, the Giulietta is the replacement for the dull-styled 147 and not before its time. Quite gorgeous, attracted a lot of photographic attention, and will come on the road with a range of powerful engines including a Cloverleaf version with 235hp under the hood. The base petrol car will have the new MultiAir 1.4 with 170hp, and there will be two 2.0 diesels.

The new generation 5 Series has regained the quiet elegance lost by the previous edition. Otherwise it is a quiet evolution of a car with already excellent dynamics. But as well as showing the standard car in the metal at Geneva, BMW also promoted its 'ActiveHybrid' version as a concept, which will improve the petrol engine's fuel consumptiuon by 10 percent and offer an electric boost during acceleration with a total of over 300hp.

Ford revealed a wagon version of the next generation Focus due here for January 2011 sales. It's a good looker, but the hatch we saw alongside it (above) will be more relevant to the Irish market. Engines will include the new Ford 1.6 EcoBoost units in petrol and diesels we're used to here. It was always going to be a winner anyhow. There was also the new C-MAX and Grand C-MAX (below), which will get here sooner and have the same running gear as the Focus.

The main attraction at the Mazda stand was the new generation Mazda5, fairly substantially redesigned and with a flowing sculpted flavour that also does good things to the aerodynamics. The 1.8 and 2.0 petrol engines are more frugal than on the outgoing car, and for Ireland expect a really good diesel story. The revisions to the Mazda6 were also on display, sportier front and tweaked interiors, and cleaner engines too. The brand just keeps zooming along.

The new generation Volvo S60 is aimed at being a sporty sedan and in style is a rather mild evolution from its predecessor. But it comes stuffed with Volvo's safety technology, including a first -- a pedestrian detection system that will 'see' pedestrians in its path and automatically stop from around 30km/h. The target is Audi's A4, and there will be a sport wagon version before the year is out.

This was a real drool machine, the Porsche 918 concept that showed how the brand is going in the future both in looks and powertrain effort. The Spyder shown at Geneva is made of carbon-fibre, and in addition to the petrol engine there are a pair of electric motors, one to each axle, which contribute 220hp to the overall power and help the 0-100km/h sprint to 3.2 seconds. Expect the real thing in a couple of years.

We've always found the Skoda Roomster as sold here in its basic form to be a bit on the bland side. But add in the 'Scout' trimming as in the Fabia and Octavia versions and you get a much smarter looking machine. As shown in Geneva the car also gets the freshened front that the Fabia has been made over with (and you don't get a salesperson like this in your average Skoda showroom here!).

The FT-86 concept was easily the most interesting item on Toyota's otherwise very white-ethos stand. It is probably close to the production version of what is widely expected to be the reincarnation of the Supra. The power will be a Subaru boxer 2.0, suitably fettled for the need.

A very smart transformation of a nameplate, the new Sportage is longer, lower and wider than the outgoing car. We like it, and we'll probably also like the new 1.7 diesel which will be available in the engines range.

Yet another Mini? Yes, actually, and we were well taken with this new Countryman, which has a higher sense to it as well as four side doors, a first ever for the nameplate. Four adults can at last fit. Expect the usual range of engines, and the unusual option of an AWD.

The VW Sharan MPV has been trundling along for more years than the maker probably wants to remember. Well, there's a brand new one now, with slick innovations like sliding doors. The interior looks classic VW, which is good or bad depending on your viewpoint. Engines are a 1.4 TSI petrol with 148bhp, a 2.0 unit with 198bhp, and two 2.0 common rail diesel engines producing 138bhp and 168bhp.

Audi has a new entry car, the A1, targeted at the Mini and giving the brand a new premium point. The show launch was a 3-door but there will be a 5-door too. The engines range are from 1.2 petrol and 1.6 diesel. I had never heard of Justin Timberlake, but he must be somebody because he launched it at Geneva.

Nissan's brand new Micra comes eight years after the present model debuted. Like all makers of small cars, Nissan is eyeing India for sales of this one and so it is being manufactured there and will be exported back to us. Power is from all-new naturally aspirated 80hp 3-cylinder petrol engine outputting 115g/km CO2.

Shades of the ugly duckling, the Cygnet from Aston Martin is a strange idea. The car is really a Toyota iQ with some Astony tweaks to the identification. Expected to cost twice the Toyota's, though.


The luxury concept with the biggest 'wow' factor was to our viewfinder the F800 from Mercedes-Benz. The rear doors slide back, by the way. This is what their future cars will look like.

The sexiest new production hybrid was Honda's CR-Z, which revives memories of the old CR-X of some decades ago and which had a lot of happy owners.

Most extraordinary thought was a hybrid Ferrari. But they say adding an electric motor to a 6.0 V12 will cut fuel consumption by a third?

Wildest concept was Citroen's Survolt, a supermini-sized electric 2-seater which would be powered by electricity. Batmobile revisited.