The return of the Geneva Motor Show (to Geneva) as a place for global debuts

The 2024 Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) saw the event return to its home city, albeit not quite as we once knew it. The marketing merit of hiring costly motor show space and its associated logistics under the same roof and time as dozens of your rivals had been questioned by carmakers well before the sharp shock of Covid. Since then, sometimes out of necessity, individual brands have sought to create a media buzz away from traditional motor shows through smaller physical events that can also be livestreamed to the world via digital means. 

Add in a group of many carmakers still very unhappy at losing significant sums of money invested in the cancelled 2020 Geneva International Motor Show (the organisers labelled the pandemic an insurance force majeur to avoid paying major compensation and it all went online instead), and it’s unsurprising that the brands attending the 2024 Geneva International Motor Show were mainly new ones.

The Renault Group was the biggest ‘legacy’ player to go large – appropriately launching its ‘legacy-inspired’ Renault 5 alongside three convincing Dacia sister brand models – but there were also eye-catching global and European physical reveals from BYD, IM, Lucid, MG and Yangwang, plus an intriguing virtual one from Pininfarina. 

The 2024 Geneva International Motor Show took up just a slice of the old show’s lower floor (the upper mezzanine floor was chock-full of lovely classic cars instead), while the 168,000 attendance at the reduced one-week show, which closed on Sunday 3 March, was more than two-thirds down on the 2019 event’s 602,000 visitors.

Nevertheless, there was still a lot of interesting product and people to see in one compact venue, without so many expensive and resource-intensive stands of yesteryear. Here are the highlights from Wallpaper*, featuring French flair, American innovation and Chinese surprises.

Geneva Motor Show 2024: the selection 

Le Car is back: Renault revives the 5

The Renault 5 Prototype was one of those rare cars that made the headlines well beyond automotive circles at its January 2021 launch. The Renault E-Tech production version revealed at the 2024 Geneva International Motor Show remains faithful to that concept while referencing design elements of various older generation R5s and with a well-judged new interior to match.

The public already seems to be sold, with a reported 50,000 orders placed. Prices should start from a likely £25,000 in early 2025 in the UK, launching with a 52kWh battery, 248-mile range and numerous customisable elements.  

Renault.co.uk, @RenaultUK

Dacia does brilliance on a budget

The scale of Dacia’s new bandwidth as a brand was displayed well in Geneva with a trio of global unveils. The formerly ‘value-only’ marque did show that side of its game, with the spruced-up Mk2 Spring EV now offered in right-hand drive and set to become the cheapest full-electric vehicle in Europe.

But it also showed its Mk3 Duster compact SUV, which has matured nicely and added more comfort, while still retaining a utilitarian charm suitable for outdoor pursuits. Talking of which, the Romanian brand also showed its wild but functionally on-point Sandrider prototype – derived from the Manifesto concept – that will race for real in the hardcore off-road 2025 Dakar Rally. Quite the transformation.                

Dacia.co.uk, @Dacia_UK

Pininfarina extends its range of eccentric luxury EVs

Storied Italian design house Pininfarina – responsible for the elegant bodywork for countless classic 20th-century Ferrari, Alfa, Maserati and even Peugeot models – went virtual at Geneva 2024 with its Enigma GT concept displayed in a walled room at the back of its stand.

Strapping in willing participants to a VR headset and directing them to the driver’s seat within a basic chassis with just a steering wheel for company, new-ish design boss Felix Kilbertus guided Wallpaper* through the VR experience of ‘sitting’ in the svelte sports car design, optimised for hydrogen power and virtually accessed via a huge top-opening clear canopy. The real thing would have been better, but this is still a typically beautiful Pininfarina design that goes even further than the recent Pura Vision concept.  

Pininfarina.it, @pininfarina_official

Airs and graces: Lucid comes to Europe

US brand Lucid is like Tesla without the controversy. The all-electric premium-luxury brand launched its first Air sports saloon in the US in late 2021 with sleek looks, lighting-quick speed and long range. Now gently easing itself into select continental European markets – including Germany this year – it showed its 464-mile range Air Pure and 2.0 seconds to 0-62mph Air Sapphire models in Geneva alongside its large seven-seat Gravity SUV.

The latter’s refined cabin has a glass windscreen that extends back to a panoramic roof for great views and boasts spacious accommodation. ‘Compromise is not in our DNA,’ says design director Derek Jenkins. ‘This is for seven passengers and luggage and the third row is designed for real adults.’ At the other end of the car a ‘two-person frunk seat’ where the engine would normally live is a novel hang-out spot. Right-hand drive models are a way off, but pencil 2026 in the diary.     

LucidMotors.com, @LucidMotors

A name reborn: MG & IM

Historic British brand MG was ‘near death’ some 20 years ago. But under patient new Chinese ownership it is now back on a roll. It sells healthy amounts of its smartly designed MG 4 EV and showed its all-electric production Cyberster roadster – close to its sportscar roots – with a wraparound, multiscreen cockpit and dramatic ‘scissor-style’ doors in Geneva. Expect prices from £50,000-plus with single and dual motor options, from summer 2024.

MG also has a new premium EV big brother brand called IM (Intelligent Mobility). Firmly targeting Tesla’s line-up, its quartet of models (two saloons and a pair of SUVs) are set to take on everything from the Model 3 to X in the UK from 2025, with long 373-497-mile ranges and interesting tech – note the pixel-based infotainment running through the L7 saloon’s rear light bar as just one example.     

MG.co.uk, @MGmotoruk

Twists and turns from BYD’s Yangwang brand

Chinese brand BYD (Build Your Dreams) sold more cars worldwide than Tesla in 2023 and started official UK car imports last year. With a credible-looking electrified range courtesy of ex-Alfa and Audi designer Wolfgang Egger and self-developed battery technology, the company is now branching upmarket with its new Yangwang brand. 

The imposing 5.3m-long U8 SUV is on sale in China and Yangwang could bring its rugged exterior and Bentley-with-a-Chinese-twist interior to Europe. Party trick tech includes four electric motors that can make left and right wheels spin in different directions to allow 360-degree ‘tank-style’ turns. One to watch, literally. 

Yangwangauto.com

Click through below to read our extensive coverage of the cars, concepts and collaborations shown at previous Geneva Motor Shows:

Geneva 2019 Concepts, 2019 Production Cars 

Geneva 2018 Concepts, 2018 Production Cars

Geneva 2017 Cars and Concepts

Geneva 2016 Cars and Concepts

Geneva 2014 Cars and Concepts

Geneva 2013 Cars and Concepts

Geneva 2012 Cars and Concepts

Geneva 2011 Cars and Concepts

Geneva 2010 Cars and Concepts

Geneva 2009 Cars and Concepts