13 Reasons Why You Didn't Want to Attend Press Day at Geneva

March 5, 2015
Story By
John Brooks

The planes, trains and automobiles containing the world's motoring media arrive almost simultaneously. It is early March, so the destination for this tribe must be the Palexpo, the Geneva Motor Show, known to some simply as the Salon, is officially on. While some of you motorheads out there may be jealously sulking at home, awaiting the first photos to hit the Internet - let me assure you, things are sometimes prettier on the flat screen. To make you feel slightly better for missing the before-open-to-the-public Press Days, let me share these X reasons why you don't want to be in the opening day crowd...

Unlike most auto shows virtually everything happens on the first day at Geneva. I counted 122 reveals, conferences, and launches on Tuesday's schedule - frequently happening simultaneously. Trying to be at all of them is simply impossible. It's as if you'd need to play Hermione in Harry Potter and use a Time-Turner just so you could catch them all. This show is not for the faint of heart.

Next, look at those crowds! You're than lugging around heavy camera equipment, while left standing shoulder-to-shoulder at each conference and are expected to take notes - in addition to grabbing that nice polished snapshot of the car to share with expectant readers. At least there are some refreshments to be had.

Might there be respite at a desk in the media center? It is packed from opening to closing - and it certainly isn't the glamorous bunch you'd rub elbows with at a cocktail party.

Than if two days early wasn't enough, the Geneva Salon has a prologue. So the in the afternoon before the Press Day, media assembles for the announcement declaring the Car of the Year. While this is a big deal which grants serious bragging rights for the winner, are there many automotive enthusiasts dying to see this?

...Or this. Out of the seven candidates - the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, Citroën C4 Cactus, Ford Mondeo, Mercedes C-class, Nissan Qashqai, Renault Twingo - it was the Volkswagen Passat who earned the title of "2015 Car of the Year." A jury of 58 motoring journalists drawn from 22 countries in Europe voted, surely a great accolade for Volkswagen... but we've all seen a Passat before.

Back to the Press Day... With all these beauties primed to attract one's attention and here we are, keeping an eye on the ever-present clock beckoning us away.

Of course, once the mob is assembled it is now almost impossible to get a clear view. Such is the scrum.

Everyone is a photographer these days, and maybe that is not such a bad thing.

Ferrari led the way in this confusion, the brand outshining many of the other exhibitors. Each time I returned, the stand was always packed.

Then again, having a mob of people in the shot must speak better for the manufacturer than this scene. I felt rather sorry for this Peugeot concept car and its lonely sentry.

And while the Geneva Motor Show is a far cry from the spectacle at Tokyo Auto Salon, I still felt I had slipped back a few decades as many of the stands featured young women as extra decoration to the cars. Some more tasteful than others it has to be said, but why? A project as exciting and different as the Nissan LM P1 does not need any further ornamentation... come on guys, this is the 21st century!

Another apparently desperate use of feminine wiles was on the stand of Citroën with the Berlingo Mountain Vibe concept. Perhaps the combination of pink plastic bits, stickers and snow chains was not considered enough of an attraction to the media. While it's a bit of a stretch to imagine this basic vehicle as being considered a fashion item - I suppose to the average Mom out there, every little bit helps.

When all else fails to excite the media, give 'em a spot of song and dance...Citroën was the guilty party once again. As evidenced above, these models are not the sort filling the stages of Broadway.

With all that being said, there are, of course, some benefits to being there on media day as well. There was much to like at the 2015 Geneva Salon, tradition was well represented on the Morgan stand.

History was to be found on the McLaren exhibit, with the road going version of the long-tailed F1 GTR that raced in 1997. I looked at that story HERE.

Styling concepts were also to be found, this beautiful reworking of the Mini by Touring of Milan, would "sell all day long down the Kings Road," according to my colleague Sam Collins, a man who would know about such things.

The up market small car was also the subject of this concept car from Lexus, the LF-SA City Car.

Considering that motor racing has been banned in Switzerland since 1955, there were a surprising number of new competition cars on display, we've already covered some of them in our "Hot Picks." This Mercedes-AMG GT3 being prominent. Stay tuned to DrivingLine for more on this one in a later post.

While us journalists become highly acquainted over the years with the supercars that steal the spotlight at auto shows, very few of us can ever dream of owning one. So as a nod to something that could be purchased by us average Joes, this Hyundai i20 Coupé isn't too bad. With plenty to see and enjoy at the Palexpo, continue reading more from the 2015 Geneva Salon... next up, Race Cars of the Geneva Motor Show...

13 Reasons Why You Didn't Want to Attend Press Day at Geneva

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