The Geneva Motor Show – one of the year’s most important automotive events – is now open. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to visit the Swiss show, so here, we’ve saved you the shame of missing out by rounding up the our favourite new car reveals.
Alpine A110
We’d already seen a few shots of the mid-engined sports car that would mark the return of Renault sub-brand Alpine, and now we know exactly what it looks like from all angles.
The A110 is super light with a kerb weight of 1,080kg, and with a 248bhp 1.8-litre four-pot turbocharged petrol engine under the bonnet, you’ve got a sports car capable of going from nought to 62mph in 4.5 seconds.
Available before the end of 2017, UK prices haven’t been confirmed yet, but it’ll retail from 58,500 euros (£50,716) in its native France.
Volvo XC60
Nine years on from the launch of the original XC60 and we’ve finally got a replacement. The XC60 nameplate represents around 30 per cent of Volvo’s global sales and this car has been honed to keep it that way.
Stylistically, it looks like someone rear-ended an XC90, not that it would’ve mattered if it had because the all-new second-generation model is “one of the safest cars ever made” and “the perfect car for an active lifestyle”, to quote Volvo Car Group’s president and chief executive Håkan Samuelsson.
The range-topping XC60 will use the brand’s 401bhp T8 petrol plug-in hybrid powertrain, and you will also be able to get it with the usual D4 and D5 diesel units and T5 petrol when it goes into production from mid-April.
Honda Civic Type R
The current Civic Type R won’t even have been on sale for two years when its replacement hits the market and that makes us a little sad because the 2016 Type R is a real hoot.
But in the face of Ford’s 345bhp Focus RS, Honda felt it had to react, so by this summer, we’ll have this longer, angrier-looking beast.
The Type R retains the same 2.0-litre VTEC Turbo engine as the current model, but the unit has been refined to deliver 315bhp – 10bhp more than before – and up to 400Nm of torque.
Honda says throttle responses and driveability have been improved due to the optimised engine control settings too. A stiffer chassis, revised suspension and a more aerodynamic exterior will help the Civic Type R compete in the hot hatch market once more.
Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e Concept
Could this be the car that finally gives Tesla some serious competition in the luxury electric car market? You’d think so because Bentley isn’t phased by stepping into fresh territory, as proven by the arrival of its first ever SUV – the monstrous Bentayga – last year.
The concept of a convertible electric saloon sounds just like the kind of thing Bentley should be doing and the EXP 12 Speed 6e outlines how the brand would seek to define top-end electric motoring, with high quality materials, appropriate technology and the elevated refinement you’d want from a true Bentley.
Range is a key concern for Bentley though. They would want their electric car to be able to comfortably travel from London to Monaco on a single charge – an 878 mile drive – but even the current most capable electric vehicle (Tesla Model S 100D) can only manage half that distance without stopping to recharge (424 miles).
So an all-electric Bentley may be a few years off yet. Instead, the brand will introduce plug-in variants of current models, starting with the Bentayga in 2018.
Audi Q8 sport concept
We’ve seen hybrid Audi SUVs before and here’s another one. The Q8 sport concept introduces the advanced powered compressor technology, first used in the SQ7 TDI, to a six-pot TFSI petrol engine for a mild hybrid powertrain producing 469bhp.
The Q8 may look like a bit of a bulky bruiser but it can get from a standstill to 62mph in just 4.7 seconds and keep going until it hits 170mph. Throw in a CO2 output of just 25g/km and a total range of more than 745 miles and it’s plain to see why the Q8 has been gathering plenty of attention in Geneva.
Also on the Audi stand was the RS 5 Coupé, which is good for 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds – half a second quicker than its predecessor.
One Audi bod described it as “the gran turismo among the RS models”, adding that it “combines elegant aesthetics with high everyday usability”.
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