Geneva Motor Show 2014 traditionally starts with the Volkswagen Group Night where all Volkswagen brands present their wares. GTspirit were present to check out all the novelties the Germans brands brought to Geneva this year.
Over 1,200 journalists gathered in an exhibition space on the outskirts of Geneva. This year there is a strong focus on motorsports with the Le Mans 24 Hours contenders from both Audi and Porsche celebrating their debut.
The show started with a short intro by the Head of Communications for the Volkswagen Group, due to the smaller place it was a lot shorter than in Frankfurt where VIP guests and several board members were welcomed individually. First up was Lamborghini with its new Lamborghini Huracan. Three different examples made its way down the temporary ‘road of the future’, one white, one yellow with black wheels and one grey example of the Huracan passed by. The sound of the screaming V10 was clearly heard despite the loud music.
Skoda took to the stage second, quickly followed by Audi with its new TT, in particular a brand new Audi TTS with 2.0 liter turbo engine. Specs: 310hp – 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds! The new TT is Audi’s road car highlight in Geneva but the company from Ingolstadt brought more: The Audi R18 Le Mans car that will contend in this years Le Mans 24 Hours for yet another Le Mans win.
After Audi it was time for their Spanish colleagues from Seat to show their highlight. Again quickly followed by Bentley with the facelifted Bentley Continental GT Speed – 635hp – 820Nm. The convertible the Bentley CEO showcased on stage has a top speed of 327 km/h.
Then it was Giugaro Design’s turn to show their latest creation: the Volkswagen Clipper Concept complete with four wing doors and a futuristic interior. A high-tech sport MPV build on the electric Volkswagen platform. The Volkswagen Clipper Concept is a 6-seater with six individual seats.
Following Giugaro it was Porsche’s turn. Our anticipation was high for the Porsche 919 Hybrid debut but instead Porsche started with a history lesson. Out came the Porsche GT1 with which Porsche last won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1998. The 919 Hybrid premiere is saved til tomorrow morning at the Geneva Motor Show in Palexpo. People wonder why does Porsche invest so much in the LMP1 prototypes? The answer was clear: “Porsche is a sportcar manufacturer”. And many of the innovations in the 919 Hybrid and other Porsche racing cars will make their way into the road cars.
The Porsche GT1 clears the stage again with a very loud start up and launch. Quickly followed by another appearance of the Porsche 918 Spyder that left the stage nearly as soon as it came in complete silence.
Next up was Volkswagen with the Volkswagen Alltrack Multivan. But we were more keen to see the next VAG highlight: the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse Legend Rembrandt Bugatti. The 4th in a series of six special editions dedicated to true Bugatti legends. This Grand Sport Vitesse is dedicated to the brother of the Bugatti founder: Like the other legends the Rembrandt Bugatti Veyron is limited to three pieces. With just 50 Grand Sports still remaining in the series of 150 Bugatti is on its way to sell the final Veyrons the next couple of years.
We almost forgot but Ducatti is also part of the Volkswagen Group. Ducatti presents its fourth edition to their motorcycle line-up in 2014. Last up was Volkswagen with a funky two door SUV meets convertible meets city car concept dubbed the T-ROC. After the last words from the host for the evening. Its build on the platform of the Golf and roughly the same size. If it were to go in production it could technically use the same engine line-up as the Golf. Volkswagen is very keen to build it and we wouldn’t mind to see a car like the T-ROC on the road. The T-ROC made way for the new Golf GTE, a performance plug-in hybrid that can be seen as the hybrid equivalent of the GTD and GTI.
All highlights have made their appearance and make a group come back on stage. A speech by Martin Winterkorn and some more words by the host for the evening mark the end of the official part of the show – after which 1,200 journalists flock to the stage in seconds to take a closer look at the cars.
The highlights of the Volkswagen Group gave us a good taste of what’s to come at the Geneva Show this year. Make sure to refresh our Geneva Motor Show 2014 News channel often the next two days for the latest news and premieres!