IN SPITE OF ALL CRISES

At the 86th Geneva Motor Show, Azerbaijan was represented by a single accredited journalist - the chairman of the Association of Car Dealers of Azerbaijan, editor-in-chief of Autograph magazine, author and presenter of a TV programme with the same name, Natik Zarbaliyev. He kindly agreed to share his impressions with the readers of Region Plus.

These Europeans are strange people. During the years of rapid economic growth, they were concerned about the environment and economy. At all major motor shows, famous carmakers from the Old World demonstrated hybrid or electric models, invented alternative engines, looked for renewable energy sources and proudly noted on the bodywork how many grams of harmful substances this vehicle ejects into the atmosphere. But as soon as the economic crisis broke out, production declined and refugees started flowing in, yesterday's proponents of saving, as if competing with each other, started creating super-powerful and super-prestigious cars without sparing the buyer's money, fuel or the environment...

The current International Geneva Motor Show can be characterized by the words: speed and luxury or luxurious speed. Looking at pricey Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, Lamborghinis and Bugattis, the Europeans seem to be consoling and convincing themselves that crises are transitory, but beauty and power are forever.

There was more than enough beauty and strength at the 86th Geneva Motor Show. However, automakers' innovations are addressed not only to Europeans: moguls and oligarchs from around the world, and even Arab sheikhs, who have a special love for prestigious "hand-built" cars, are keeping their money in Swiss banks. Obviously, for this reason, such famous tuning companies like Brabus, TechArt, Hamann and others are particularly active precisely in Geneva rather than in Frankfurt or Paris. Each car created by these companies is a work of art and high technology. Of course, their cost is totally different from the basic versions of already expensive models. In any case, the buyers of these cars are used to living in a big way even in crisis years.

Generally, Switzerland is not a country where you want to save. Watches, knives and chocolate begin to "lure" visitors right at the airport. As for us, as soon as we got off the plane, we immediately went to the Palexpo exhibition centre where the motor show is being held. The pavilions will be working exclusively for accredited journalists for two days, and today the "Car of the Year" is being chosen. According to the authoritative jury consisting of the editors-in-chief and leading columnists of the most influential automotive publications of Europe, the new Opel Astra is the "Car of the Year". The jury evaluated the design, comfort, safety, technology innovations, the quality and price ratio and other criteria. Representatives from Opel are rejoicing, and expensive Moet champagne flows like water for journalists. By the way, after a couple of hours, walking through the city centre, I saw a homeless man drinking the same drink directly "from the bottle". He was sitting on the pavement in front of a store that sells (attention!) gold-plated garden shovels. I told you, you don't want to save here. So let's talk expensive automobile premieres of the Geneva Motor Show...

Good, but not ours...

The most affordable innovation shown at this exhibition is, perhaps, the fourth generation Renault Scenic. However, it is affordable for Europe, but not for our market, according to the company's marketing specialists. And they are right, because our people will not buy a compact French van for almost 30,000 manats as they prefer traditional German sedans or Japanese SUVs, even if they are used ones. For our customer, Renault is first of all inexpensive cars Logan and Sandero - to be used as a taxi or a family vehicle. It is good that at least Duster "reached" us, making fans of crossovers with limited financial resources happy. Meanwhile, for other markets Renault produces models such as Espase and Talisman, claiming that they are premium vehicles. "Why should one definitely try to get into the premium segment? Is it so shameful to be a people's car?" I ask a representative of the company. "Well, why is it shameful? We have different models for different regions, and there are also people's cars and more prestigious models. Unfortunately, in your country, only products of German manufacturers are considered premium."

In short, the demand creates supply, and the new Renault Scenic will not appear in the salon of official dealer any time soon, and if someone likes it, let them buy and bring it from Europe. The car is interesting, hi-tech and beautiful, and it "stands" on 20-inch wheels.

The car has, as required by the laws of the genre, spacious, easily transformable interior with dozens of containers, niches and shelves for small items. Between the front seats there is a sliding cabinet-armrest, which you can roll back in one motion and put a backpack or another large object in the vacated space. The front panel is dominated by a large "tablet" that controls the multimedia.

The public was introduced to Scenic by the new chief of design at Renault, our old friend Laurens van den Acker, who traditionally went on the podium in a suit and sneakers of the colour of the new car.

The new flagship of Bentley

The legendary British manufacturer showed a new version of the Mulsanne flagship model in three versions. "Just" Mulsanne, Mulsanne Extended Wheelbase and "sports" Mulsanne Speed were exhibited at the show. The new model is different from the previous series by a wider grille made of stainless steel, as well as new forms of the bonnet, bumper and front aluminium wings. The front adaptive headlights are fully LED.

Even the base version of the car has super-comfortable rear seats. Engineers and designers proudly call them "first class aircraft seats". The cabin can serve as the standard for luxury, you can choose from ten types of leather, wood and veneer. During the presentation, the head of the company announced an interesting fact: the production of one car takes 400 man-hours, and the interior decoration - 150 of them.

The new information system with an 8-inch colour display will certainly please the driver and the front passenger. It is also worth noting the 20-channel sound system with 20 speakers and a total capacity of 2,200 W!

The new Bentley Mulsanne is equipped with a 6.75-litre eight-cylinder 512 horsepower engine. Its top speed is 296 km per hour. Of course, Mulsanne Speed is even stronger and faster: 537 "horses" and 305 km per hour. Just imagine, it is not a car from the Formula-1 race, but a super-prestigious comfortable limousine.

We must say that the company did not limit itself to the three versions of the new flagship, demonstrating in the depths of the stand a special edition of the "courtier" of the Mulliner studio, which specializes in the creation of unique cars to order. This sample was named Mulsanne Grand Limousine. The cabin has folding tables finished with veneer, a section for cooling bottles and champagne glasses from crystal and even transparent metal. There are also chargers for all sorts of gadgets here; By the way, you can control comfort, communications and entertainment systems through the iPad.

The limousine is one metre longer and 79 mm higher than the standard version of the Mulsanne sedan. The car has six seats, and in the back there are four separate seats arranged in pairs opposite each other, and each has its own pull-out table.

The best…

For 12 consecutive years, the builder of hypercars Bugatti has exhibited the same Veyron model all auto show. Although it was a sensation at first, soon everyone was thoroughly fed up with it. Well, how many times can you change the colour of the body and the "jewels" of the interior, passing the vehicle off as a new one? For the sake of fairness, we should note that it had no match in strength and power: the 16-cylinder engine gave out 1,001 horsepower. Later, this figure increased periodically. However, as Koenigsegg released the One: 1 model with the potential of 1,350 "horses" and the vehicle weight of 1,350 kg (hence the name - "one to one"), the title of the most powerful and fastest production car was lost. And here is the sensation! Bugatti Chiron, which was named after the famous racing driver of the last century, produces 1,500 hp thanks to the four turbochargers! Plus - a new cooling, intake and exhaust, power system... It is practically a new engine capable of accelerating the hypercar up to 380 km/h in normal mode and up to 420 km/h when a special key is activated. By the way, theoretically, the maximum speed could be higher, but special tires restrict it. The speedometer is generally marked up to 500 km/h! Just think about it, Chiron accelerates in 13.6 seconds ... No, not to a "hundred", but to 300 km/h! The hypercar reaches 100 and 200 km/h in 2.5 and 6.5 seconds respectively.

The car was the centre of attention at this exhibition. It seems that not only journalists and potential buyers of hypercars, but also fans, or rather professionals of "copy-paste" were interested in it. It was interesting to see the Bugatti chief squatting next to a Chiron surrounded by a group of Chinese experts. It was impossible to hear what they talked about, but it was obvious that they discussed the technological features of the car. It seems that Mr. Durheimer decided to order a "fake" for himself, for he does not have enough money to buy his own brainchild, journalists joked. But in every joke, as you know... After all, Bugatti Chiron is not only the strongest and the fastest car, but also the most expensive production car. It will cost about three million euros...

As I mentioned, the Geneva Motor Show stands out for the active participation of manufacturers of different super and hypercars and tuning studios. The goal is clear - to attract the attention of the rich who visit Geneva for their financial affairs, perhaps someone will "fall for" another individual model. However, how do you draw their gaze to your stand? Of course, "Cherchez la femme!" The Geneva Motor Show, among other things, is famous for the most beautiful girls at the stands. The uglier the car, the sexier the girl standing nearby. Paradox? No, the norm. What else can they do?