March 4, 2009 - The 79th Geneva International Auto Show

An Auto Show Goes on, Seemingly in Denial

Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Bugatti, Aston Martin, Pagani, Koenigsegg, Rolls-Royce, Spyker, Bentley — and the list goes on — are all featuring sexy and souped-up new sports cars in their displays at The 79th Geneva International Auto Show.

The Girls at The 79th Geneva International Autoshow

Ignore the worldwide recession — it’s pedal-to-the-floor at the Geneva auto show this year, a glittering showcase for six-figure supercars that seems unwilling to acknowledge the grim sales results being announced even as final touches were added to automakers’ lavish displays.

Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Bugatti, Aston Martin, Pagani, Koenigsegg, Rolls-Royce, Spyker, Bentley — and the list goes on — are all featuring sexy and souped-up new sports cars in their displays here. It’s almost as if these automakers believe that buyers still have bottomless credit lines, home equity to borrow against, flush retirement accounts and heaps of disposable income.

Some, like the Koenigsegg Quant Concept, which is solar-powered, or the Frazer-Nash Namir, a hybrid styled by Giugiaro, at least nod to a possible shift toward more sustainable forms of mobility in the future. But others, like Bugatti and Aston Martin, seem unapologetic about the prospect of warming the globe with their mega-horsepower internal-combustion engines.

The Geneva show, which opens to the public Thursday after two days of press previews, runs until March 15 at the Palexpo convention center here.

Despite the free fall of sales in the industry, Geneva lives up to its reputation for glitz, glamour and gazillions worth of new cars. The show’s organizers promised at least seven dozen world or European new-model debuts.

Sifting through all the glitter, though, it was hard to find substance. Volkswagen offered one of the few meat-and-potatoes models with its new Polo econocar. This is one of VW’s biggest sellers, a high-volume model in Europe that VW hopes to also bring to the United States. The fifth-generation Polo is said to sip much less fossil fuel, spewing smaller portions of carbon dioxide while going faster than its predecessor.

Ford offered the new Iosis Max design study, which foreshadows the look of the next generation Focus. The 40-mile-a-gallon Chevrolet Spark, known as the Beat when it won a Internet vote as best among three design studies, will slot into Chevy’s lineup below the Aveo in the United States starting in 2011.

Opel, General Motors’ European arm, showed the Ampera hybrid (in G.M.’s lexicon, an extended-range electric vehicle) due to go on sale in late 2011. There’s a big “if” here: the company said its survival might be measured in weeks if more than $4 billion in aid requested from European governments does not come through.

Chrysler was “dark,” as they say on Broadway, at Geneva although executives like James Press, the company’s vice chairman and president, were on hand for upbeat press briefings. Mr. Press said Chrysler was still hopeful of receiving federal funds to help it survive. Chrysler is also exploring an alliance with Fiat to bring new small cars, perhaps to include the Fiat 500, to America.

The attractiveness of such a prospect was underscored by the introduction here of the irresistible open-air Fiat 500C, with a canvas sliding roof.

Nissan unveiled two concepts, one of which was one of the show’s most beautiful, the other one of its ugliest. The beauty was the arresting Infiniti Essence design study; the beast was the ungainly Nissan Qazana crossover proposal, sort of a dune buggy for downtown dwellers.

Unintentionally odd was the new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano HGTE. Its cartoonish smiley face grille bears an uncanny resemblance to the “Cars” movie character, Lightning McQueen.

It is Geneva, though, and in the auto industry, this is showtime.

Original Story - New York Times

Additional Story - March 6, 2009

Italian Car Designers Go Global

The Zagato-designed Z-one car.

Volkswagens are built in Mexico. Chevrolets are built in India. Mercedes, BMW and Toyota all build vehicles in, well, the United States. The list goes on and on. But one interesting trend uncovered at this year’s Geneva auto show is the globalization of Italy’s most prestigious car designers.

For car enthusiasts, the names Zagato and Pininfarina conjure up images of fat-fendered and ultra-luxurious Italian sports cars. But in Geneva, the Zagato name graces a Chevy-powered sports car that is built in South Africa. Meanwhile, the storied Pininfarina logo can be found affixed to a sedan built by an Indian company specializing in low-cost cars.

“If you want to survive the financial crisis, you have to go global,” said Andrea Zagato, president of Zagato design and the third generation to run his family’s 90-year-old company. Zagato-designed classics are respected and desired around the world. Examples, like a 1964 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato, can fetch millions of dollars at auction.

“What’s really important is the Italian design,” said Mr. Zagato, as we sat in a small conference area on the company’s show stand. A few feet away, the new Zagato Perana Z-One looked every bit like the swept-back sports cars I used to doodle in my schoolbooks.

The fenders of the Z-One twist and turn over large alloy wheels. The cabin is set far back, and frankly, it’s a drop-dead gorgeous little car. Only 999 will be produced annually and sales begin in Europe and South Africa later this year. United States sales are planned, though an on-sale date has not been confirmed.

The fact that a Zagato-badged car is built in South Africa and is powered by a Chevy motor doesn’t bother Mr. Zagato. He said he believed the financial crisis only accelerated the push for companies, large and small, to globalize production. For well-heeled traditionalists, Zagato will continue to build a limited series of what it refers to as its “atelier” cars. These vehicles are designed and made by hand in Italy, and limited to only nine a year. Prices are deep into six-figure territory, which makes the Perana Z-One’s $75,000 asking price seem like a bargain. Denis Balibouse/Reuters Paolo Pininfarina, left, and Tata Motors Chairman Ratan Tata with the Tata Prima.

If these traditionalists are put off by the cheaper Perana Z-One, they may run from a car like the Pininfarina-designed Tata Prima sedan. Tata Motors is best known for small economy cars, like the tiny Nano hatchback. Shaped like an egg, the bare-bones Nano has a price under $3,000 and goes on sale in India in a matter of weeks. Tata has never built its own luxury car, much less one with an Italian designer label on the fenders.

Pininfarina may be best known for its design work on Ferraris, but the company is saddled with a huge debt, according to this report from Autoblog, and could be facing tough times. Last year, its charismatic chief executive, Andrea Pininfarina, died in a scooter accident.

But Pininfarina could find its footing by teaming with Tata, India’s largest auto manufacturer. The two companies need what the other can offer. Tata could use a boost of sex appeal, while Pininfarina could simply use the work. Ratan Tata, chairman and chief executive of the Tata Group, hinted that the Prima could be the start of a successful business relationship.

He said that he hoped the Prima concept car “will be an indication of what Italy and India can do together,” adding that the Prima could be in production within three years.

Additional Story - New York Times