AUTO SHOW
THE 83 RD GENEVA MOTOR SHOW
All the glitter
VW XL1
Despite its overly futuristic look, this is actually a production VW model. With a drag coefficient of just 0.189Cd, the XL1 is touted to be the world’ s most aerodynamic production car.
The plug-in diesel-electric 47hp two-cylinder TDI diesel engine and a 20kW electric motor hybrid powertrain consumes just 0.9 litres / 100km.
By HanS CHEOng
T he Geneva Motor Show, now in
its 83rd year, is one of the oldest events of its kind. Organised each year in early springtime, the start of Europe’ s new car sales season and hosted in neutral Geneva, it is a favourite location for car makers clamouring for attention.
This year’ s event saw a massive 104 new models making their world premier and another 35 models debuting in Europe for the first time. Beyond new model launches, the bigger highlight of the show was the Car of the Year award.
As Switzerland has no direct interest in automotive manufacturing, the Geneva Motor Show’ s Car of the Year title is said to be the most prestigious.
Vw Golf bags Car of the year title while 104 new models made their global debut
This year, 58 automotive journalists from 22 countries nominated eight finalists for the 2013 title- Ford B-Max, Hyundai i30, Mercedes Benz A-Class, Peugeot 208, Renault Clio, Toyota GT86 / Subaru BR-Z, Volvo V40 and Volkswagen Golf.
After months of evaluation on various criteria such as fuel efficiency, comfort, safety, driving properties, functionality, design and technological progress, the VW won the title.
Scoring 414 points, the Golf was a clear favourite, scoring well ahead of the second place Toyota GT86 / Subaru BR-Z with 202 points and third place Volvo V40 with 189 points.
The Car of the Year VW Golf has recently made its Malaysian debut.
The Golf aside, were many other important highlights from Geneva that are worth your attention.
Sustainable mobility’ s the overriding theme of the show. Even high performance brands such as Ferrari and McLaren showcased their latest hybrid supercars. Indeed, 10 per cent of all models on display emit less than 100 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre.
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