Ford Fiesta Stars As Manufacturers Face Both Ways

GENEVA, Switzerland - Car manufacturers seemed a bit unsure of themselves at the Geneva Car Show this year, happily telling us one minute about how fast or sexy this or that latest machine was, then reminding themselves that this was supposed to be the year to be green, and quickly praising fuel economy or the latest wheeze to make batteries more powerful.

Daimler’s Mercedes summed up this split personality with its presentation, which started out with CEO Dieter Zetsche trundling out on stage in the world’s oldest car (a Mercedes of course) to the popular music of The Beatles “Baby You Can Drive My Car”, before switching to a serious performance of Swan Lake from a Chinese ballet company.

In a break in the ballet performance, Thomas Weber, Daimler Board Member for Research and Development at Mercedes Benz, startled the audience when coining the phrase “Sustainable Utility Vehicle” in praise of the Mercedes GLK diesel hybrid Sports Utility Vehicle. Mercedes is making great strides with its fuel saving technology, but that did seem slightly over the top.

The star of the show is undoubtedly the little Ford Fiesta, which retains most of the exciting body design showcased last fall in Frankfurt with the Verve concept. Ford of Europe has been transforming the company with a series of great products like the Ford Mondeo sedan, S-Max MPV, and Ford Focus. This might not be apparent to Americans because none of these cars made it to the U.S., despite their quality. This all likely to change with CEO Alan Mulally’s drive to globalise the product, and this starts with the Fiesta, which will be available in the U.S. in 2010.

The Fiesta will indeed be greener than its predecessor, mainly because of its lighter weight rather than any breakthroughs in technology.  The Fiesta’s design has much engineering in common with the Mazda2, a small car launched in Europe last year. Ford owns about one third of Mazda of Japan.

Buyers in Europe are moving towards even smaller cars as the powers-that-be relentlessly raise the cost of motoring with eye-watering fuel taxes and other tax gouges described as big city “congestion charges”. Ford is hoping the Fiesta will attract buyers out of their bigger cars, and is adding premium features like sophisticated music players, advanced phone systems, and keyless entry.

Saab
GM’s European premium subsidiary, Saab of Sweden, attempted to take the wind out of Ford’s sales with an eve of show launch of a fascinating concept, the Saab 9X Bio-Power turbo hybrid. The Saab 9X concept would compete with small cars such as the Audi A3, BMW 1 series and Volvo C30 and would plug a serious gap in the company’s lineup. The concept has striking looks and clever theoretical technology, perhaps a bit too striking for Saab’s unassuming image, but will it be built? GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz, poured some cold water on the idea in an interview after the Saab presentation, saying that the pressures to improve fuel consumption to meet tough new European regulations would be taking the lion’s share of capital and engineering investment dollars.

Honda Accord
Honda unveiled its new European Accord sedan, which is a renewed attempt to break into the premium sector in Europe, dominated in this segment by the BMW 3 series and Mercedes C class. The car’s body is slightly different from the design seen on American streets, but not that much. Not nearly as different as the snappy, opinion-splitting European hatchback Civic, compared with the relatively bland U.S. version. The new Accord boasts high technology features like electric power steering linked to the electronic stability control for saving driving. Sales start in June, with 2.0 litre and 2.4 litre gasoline engines, and a new 2.2 litre diesel with a particulate filter.

Toyota iQ, Toyota Urban Cruiser
Toyota’s relentless small car product programme was in evidence in Geneva with the launch of the little iQ, which looks like a slightly swollen Smart car, and the Urban Cruiser, a small SUV. Toyota claims that the little iQ will seat four people; that will be an interesting discussion point when the car is launched to the media. The Urban Cruiser is built on Yaris mechanical bits.

Fiat of Italy, which is on the crest of a powerful resurgence in Europe, is hoping to breathe new life into its ailing Lancia premium subsidiary. The Lancia Delta has intriguing looks which might make it a success. Who knows, if Alfa Romeo really does return to the U.S. later this year as promised, maybe the Lancia too might be available in America one day? Previous generations of the Delta were very successful in the 1970s and late 1990s. The company is confident enough to plan a return to the British market late this year, which it left in 1994.

Rolls Royce, now owned by BMW, is for most of us a surreal brand which wouldn’t even be affordable with a large lottery win. The Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe is powered by a 453 bhp 6.75 litre V-12 petrol engine. Zero to 60 mph takes 5.9 seconds. Top speed is limited to 149 mph. Prices start at $400,000.

Another promising new blue-oval product is the Ford Kuga compact SUV, which will replace the U.S.-built Maverick. This segment is dominated by the Toyota RAV4, but is one of the faster growing in Europe, despite the anti-gas guzzler publicity suggesting buyers would shun these vehicles. VW, Peugeot, Citroen have all recently added compact SUVs to their lineups. Only Fiat has failed to join the SUV ranks, so far.

The Volvo XC60 looks like a scaled down version of the highly successful big XC90 SUV, and will be available in America early next year. Sales begin in Europe this summer. The XC60 will be the first car to offer a safety system which helps avoid low-speed accidents common in city driving. The system automatically brakes the car if it is about to suffer a front-impact.

VW has revived the Scirocco, which was dropped in 1992. It’s not clear if the car will be sold in the U.S.

The Infiniti luxury brand was launched into Western Europe at the Geneva show, with much talk of how modest initial sales targets will be. This makes sense, given that Infiniti can’t supply diesel engines yet, while the overweight styling doesn’t look as though it will easily wow European buyers. The second generation Infiniti FX made its world debut at the show.

Fiat 500 Abarth
The Fiat 500 has proven a big success for the Italian company, and the souped up Abarth was launched at the show for those who want a littler more performance. If you’re wondering what Americans will be driving by 2020 when the new CAFÉ standards finally kick in, this is a likely example.

Tata Nano
The Nano’s claim to be the world’s cheapest car - $2,500 - made it famous last year, although it is unlikely to be available any time soon in Europe or America because it wouldn’t meet safety standards. Tata decided to show it in Europe, and it drew huge crowds of journalists who were really hoping to find some news about Tata’s plan to buy Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford.

Rinspeed sQuba
The Rinspeed sQuba is a battery-powered concept roadster. Rinspeed officials say it could reach 80 mph with a range of up to 65 miles. And it could float on water and perform like a dolphin while submerged. Rinspeed is a Swiss design engineering company led by Frank Rinderknecht, who said he was inspired by a scene from the James Bond movie "The Spy Who Loved Me," which shows Bond driving Barbara Bach in a Lotus Esprit underwater. That scene was faked, but Rinderknecht said this can now be done for real