The 75th Geneva Motor Show was held
in Geneva, Switzerland over an 11 days period from Thursday,
March 3 to Sunday, March 13, 2005. The venue, Palexpo,
has an excellent location just five minutes walk from
Geneva Airport and three minutes walk from the Geneva
Airport Railway Station. Total exhibition space is 114,000
m². This year the show celebrated a “double anniversary.” It
is a century since it began as a local, domestic show
and 75 years since it became an international show. The
show concept was “The past, the present and the
future.” Each year the show serves as a forum for
announcing new vehicles and technologies, and the theme
underscores its intention to continue to be a Mecca of
new concept cars and designs well into the future.
Exhibitors this year represented approximately
900 brands from 261 companies in 30 countries. The layout
of the exhibition was the same as past years. Halls 1
and 2 were occupied by the Volkswagen Group and the GM
Group; Hall 4 mostly by Japanese automakers (Toyota,
Nissan, Mazda, Daihatsu, Suzuki); Hall 5 by Ford and
Fiat; and Hall 6 by the DaimlerChrysler Group, Hyundai
and the BMW Group. Near the centers of Halls 1, 2, 4
and 5, surrounded by the finished carmakers, were carrozzeria
exhibitors. The halls provided lighting suspended from
the ceiling, but many automakers used their own illumination
to differentiate themselves from the competition. With
114,000 m² of floor space, the venue is fairly large,
but it did not seem so to the viewer because the exhibition
halls are not divided up and they therefore felt like
a single, continuous space. The booths had a height restriction
of 1.65 m, which allowed the entire hall to be seen and
in the process removed any feeling of oppressiveness,
even when walking down the aisles. Our overall impression
was that this was a very easy show for the visitor to
view. On the other hand, we also noticed some differences
in sensitivities and culture. The first concerns barrier-free
design of the booths. All of the booths had a step of
15-20 cm, and most booths only had slopes in the approach
area. Another concern was smoking; cylindrical ashtrays
were installed around the hall and we observed some exhibitors
standing around smoking in front of them, or walking
around the show with lit cigarettes in their mouths.
There appears to be less of an orientation to words smoking
bans or separate smoking than one would find in Japan
or the United States.
Turning to the design of the booths, our impression was
that the exhibitors focused their energies precisely
on showing off their cars. Automakers displaying world
premieres made quite clear that a world premiere car
was on view, and this is something that the Tokyo Show
could learn from. There was not much in the way of loud,
flashy song and dance, but we were surprised by the large
number of female attendants on hand for press photo shoots.
And as a special event to celebrate
the 100th/75th anniversary of the Geneva Show, the organizers
produced a “cinema set” that allows you to
experience the development of automobiles in Switzerland.
Re-creating the history of Swiss motorization, which
began in 1905, using actual vehicles and mannequins,
this was an extremely unique and interesting glimpse
at the past. The wall at the exhibit entrance was made
up like a traditional house, and the well off to the
side provides indication of the detail and care that
went into the display. Upon entering, the lights are
somewhat dimmed, giving the impression that you are at
a Disneyland attraction. Mannequins wearing the fashions
of the day were placed next to real vehicles as if it
were a scene from a movie. We found the overall production
to be extremely engaging. Near the exit was a souvenir
shop selling a commemorative book of more than 300 pages,
gold and silver commemorative coins and two varieties
of commemorative stamps. Our impression was then Geneva
went all out to celebrate its centennial.
This year the Geneva Show marked an
important milestone with its centennial. We look forward
to the future, watching how Geneva uses its position
as a non-automaking country to continue to evolve and
grow. |
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Overhead view |
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Toyota world premiere |
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Toyota Booth |
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Nissan Booth |
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Overhead lighting (Citroen) |
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Centennial Commemorative Vehicle Exhibit |
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Centennial Commemorative Exhibit
Hall |
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