The 89th Geneva International Motor Show, one of the biggest automotive shows in the world, will begin on March 7. Some 199 automotive, automotive supply and technology companies will exhibit their latest products at the show that will run until March 17.
The biggest surprise at this year's Geneva Motor Show will be the launch of the new generation Renault Clio, produced at the Oyak Renault facilities in Bursa. Turkey is the main production center of Clio.
Clio has been one of the best-selling cars in the world since its launch i
n 1990. Renault has sold more than 15 million Clios so far. In addition to being the favorite automobile model for the French, Clio has also been a leader in segment B in Europe since 2013. It ranks only second after Volkswagen Golf as the best-selling passenger car in Europe. The new Clio will be the first model to offer the E-Tech hybrid engine developed by Renault. The new Fiat Egea, also produced in Turkey's car manufacturing base Bursa, will also be showcased in Geneva. Sport, the new member of the Egea family, which was accomplished by its Turkish manufacturer Tofaş with an investment of more than $1 billion, has been offered for sale in the European market under the brand name of Tipo. Egea, which replaced Fiat's Bravo/Brava in 2001, has achieved greater success than its predecessor. Launched in 1995, a total of 406,000 Bravo/Brava model cars were produced, while a total of 500,000 Egea models have been produced in under three years.
Auto shows have been on the skids in recent years, with automobile brands not participating in fairs for various reasons. Geneva has been also been added to that list, as Opel, Infiniti, DS, Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo all confirmed they will not attend this year's fair.
The reason for not participating in the fair, however, is not clear but sources claimed that the decline in the number of visitors in the recent years might be a reason. While a total of 714,000 people visited the fair in 2000, that number dropped to 662,000 last year. Apart from Clio and Egea, Turkish companies designing individual VIP vehicles, DizaynVip, Okçu and Ertex, will also display their products in Geneva.