Green Sounds in a Hue of Blue at the Geneva Car Show

At the 78th International Auto Show in Geneva the visitors, 700,000 in total expected during the event upto 16th March,are well into their stride.According to the Geneva Tribune, they " will be overwhelmed by soothing shades of blue." It would seem that green technology,and there is more of it again this year,has been cloaked in a marketing make-over of blue.There are many cars going under names like Blue Motion,Blue Lion and Blue Tech.

Size also matters.A few years ago,very small cars,and particularly electric cars,would not have been given 'house' room bigger than a broom cupboard.Now,Tata have unveiled outside India the Nano to wide public interest,and Toyota is showing a microcar less than three metres long.So going smaller and alternative energy technology often go hand in hand in the drive for economy and efficiency for the family car.

Other headline notes are:

• Volkswagen premieres the Golf TDI Hybrid -this 1.2 litre diesel concept is designed to emit less than 89g/km ogf CO2 and deliver 83 mpg
• VW also unveils a natural gas-fuelled car - the Passat estate TSI EcoFuel- it uses 5.2 kilogrammes of gas per 100 kilometres
• Again,from,VW is the Sharan BlueMotion - (shown above in a less than blue hue)
  
• All-New Ford Fiesta Twins make a debut
• KIA Soul concepts and eco-c'eed Duo to star at Geneva
• SEAT are to show a landmark concept
• SAAB defines its future design with the 9-X Bio-Hybrid concept
• The Hyundai HED-5 i-Mode concept said to hint at a future MPV production model
• and the previously mentioned Toyota iQ takes a bow

So,plenty of new production cars,together with glimpses of the future with the new technology concepts. A main theme of the show remains,though, the drive by many manufacturers to improve the efficiency of many of their existing models.

More soon from this car feast of delights, a mix of dreams and of reality.