Power and Pageantry: AutoeBid at the Geneva Motor Show
AutoeBid sent its editor to the motor show away from the stratospheric power figures and carbon figure body panels to report on the most significant news for new car buyers that came from Volkswagen Group, whose range of brands have enjoyed unparalleled success over the last decade.
Volkswagen introduced GTI and Bluemotion estate versions of the new 2013 Golf VII (recently voted Car of the Year) as well as a crossover variant of the popular up!. Whether the up! will make it to the UK, however, is undecided.
On the adjacent stand Skoda served up the same trusted recipe with the new Octavia, which built on the Group’s new MQB platform will go on sale later this month from £14,000. Factor in Autoebid’s reverse auctions and the dependable Octavia could be the year’s best new car deals bargain.
The vast Audi berth, on the other hand, was relatively quiet but evidenced the brand’s breath of appeal with the introduction of a 552bhp RS6 Avant and Q3 RS on one hand and electric and natural gas-powered variants of the new A3 on the other.
Options for those in the market for a family car will grow at an unprecedented rate this year, with Peugeot’s 2008, Ford’s Ecosport and the Renault Captur making stylish additions to an already competitive compact crossover segment. A refreshed Volvo XC60 also goes on sale later this year.
Volkswagen may have stolen the headlines, but the hatchback segment is in rude health overall. A lowered and more compact three-door version of SEAT’s sharp Leon – the SC – goes on sale in July, which is just one month after the Kia Procee’d GT. Kia’s first attempt at a hot hatch certainly looks the part, but whether it is dynamic enough to match its many European rivals remains to be seen. Big hitters in the C-segment will come courtesy of Audi’s S3 Sportback and the Mercedes A45 AMG; sales of both commence later this summer.
Other significant introductions included Alfa Romeo’s carbon-tubbed 4C, which looks set to cost around £45,000, and the hybrid Infiniti Q50 – a car that will make an interesting rival to BMW and Mercedes saloons when it goes on sale in June.
AutoeBid will bring clients the best new car deals as and when they become available, but for a shiny snapshot of the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, visit the gallery on our Facebook page.