World’s carmakers descend on Switzerland

Major automobile manufacturers, automotive designers, unique equipment providers and special suppliers to the automotive industry participating in the 84th Geneva International Motor Show, will this morning jump start the annual show with two days dedicated to the media, preceding the opening to the public on Thursday.

Over the next two days, 65 press conferences will be organised with more than 10,000 media representatives from all over the world attending the events.

More than a 100 world and European premieres will be presented between today and tomorrow.

MediaToday, through MaltaToday, is amongst the media houses present at the Palexpo convention centre in Switzerland. MaltaToday will be bringing you all the latest from Geneva, including interviews with the top brass and designers from Mazda, Ford and Jaguar.

The Palexpo convention centre is hosting 250 exhibitors, the crème-de-la-crème of the motor industry.

The transformation of the empty halls into the artistry that's associated with the rivalry for ingenuity and beauty seen at the Geneva International Motor Show, kicked off in mid-February.

A multitude of decorators, carpenters, painters, mechanics, electricians and carpet layers, used over 500,000 cubic metres of merchandise in their attempt to impress visitors with their exhibits.

This year's show includes a wonderful array of vehicles on display, an 870 square metre test track for electric cars, and a retrospective of the 90 years of the mythical Le Mans 24 Hours race.

The Audi R18 e-tron quattro driven to victory by Swiss driver Marcel Fässler and his two teammates in 2012, and the Sauber-Mercedes C9 from Peter Sauber, which raced at Le Mans in 1989 are two of the 20 racecars tracing the 90 years history of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The display was realised through the collaboration with the Automobil Club de l'Ouest (AOC) and Rolex.

Sports car manufacturers Zenvo Automotive and Ermini Automobili, together with preparation specialists Klassen-Automobile and Nimrod Performances, will be participating in the Show for the first time.

The list of new exhibitors also includes the University of Helsinki Metroplia and AKKA Technologies in association with MBtech, all of whom will be unveiling their concepts for electric vehicles. Economic and ecological vehicles that emit no more than 95 grams of CO2 per kilometre, and which are being exhibited on the stands will be presented in a brochure produced by the Motor Show and Suisse Engergie.

With over 700,000 visitors expected to attend this not-to-be-missed annual event, 25 snack bars and six restaurants are ready to feed those within Palexpo, while 13 parking areas surrounding the exhibition halls provide 5,600 parking spaces during the week.

The number of parking spaces will be increased to 10,000 over the weekends.

The 84th Geneva International Motor Show will be officially opened tomorrow by the President of the Swiss Confederation, Didier Burkhalter, and will be open to the public from 6-16 March.