Frankfurt, Germany – Auto manufacturers hope to give consumers a glimpse of the future at the Geneva Motor Show this year, as they launch new electric cars and try to revitalize an industry facing serious challenges on several fronts.

The Geneva International Motor Show is set against a backdrop of slowing sales in China, the largest car market in the world. A potentially chaotic departure from Britain from the European Union and the US-China trade dispute could lead to new problems.

And add to these the imminent disruption of new technologies such as autonomous driving and smartphone-based services that allow the use of a car without owners, as well as the regulatory pressure to add more vehicles to zero emissions. In both cases, automakers are investing billions of dollars in areas that do not yet yield large volumes of sales and profits.

The show will be open to journalists on Tuesday and Wednesday and to the public from Thursday to March 17. Here is an overview of the main themes of the show.

Go electric

Although they are rare on the road today, battery-powered cars that will head to the market in the months and years to come will be much more present at the show.

One of the reasons: the new stringent limits in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, the main greenhouse gas at the origin of global warming, come into force in the European Union from 2021 and become even more stringent in 2025 and 2030. Automakers were originally bidding on diesel engines, more efficient gasoline engines, to help them reduce average emissions. But diesel sales fell sharply following the 2015 Volkswagen scandal over cars with software that allowed them to cheat on emissions control. Analysts say more electricity sales will fill the void. This, however, raises its own issues, including the reluctance of consumers to buy electricity due to rising prices and concerns about low battery life and lack of billing space.

Honda will present a prototype of a compact electric vehicle while Volvo Car Group's Polestar brand will exhibit the Polestar 2, a compact battery-powered vehicle that announces a 500-kilometer range under the European Autonomy Test (275 miles under the different American standard). designed to compete with the Tesla Model 3. Audi will present its vehicles A6, A7, A8 and Q5 in hybrid versions, which combine battery propulsion and internal combustion propulsion. Daimler's Mercedes-Benz uses the EQV concept, a battery-powered van.

Business woes

The problems of the global economy weigh on the show, including uncertainty about the outcome of trade negotiations between the United States and China. Without agreement, US President Donald Trump could add new import taxes that could slow down China's economy and global trade. Trump has also threatened to impose import duties on automobiles that could hit European producers hard.

Britain could leave the EU on March 29 without a negotiated deal to soften the transition, which would result in sudden tariffs that could disrupt the complex supply chains of the auto industries.

Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, says Britain represents only 2.8% of global sales, which means "exaggerated fears on the demand side do not are not so realistic. For UK-based manufacturers However, like the Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, Ford, Nissan and PSA, Brexit could make things much more difficult. Honda has announced the closure of a plant in England, although the company says Brexit is not the cause.

Global auto sales fell to 83.7 million last year from 84.8 million in 2017. The Dudenhoeffer center is forecasting a further decline to 81.9 million this year.

Bestsellers

While introducing the electric cars that will hit the market in the coming months and years, automakers also offer much of what consumers are buying the most today: the less climate-friendly SUVs and small cars that remain a pillar of Europe.

Sport utility vehicles are selling well and can bring big profits to builders. The Volkswagen Group Skoda will feature the Kamiq crossover SUV, featuring 95, 115 and 150 horsepower gasoline engines, as well as a four-cylinder diesel version. Mercedes-Benz has an updated version of the GLC, an SUV equipped with driver assistance systems.

Car manufacturers are not forgetting small cars running on gasoline, which remain a category of bread and butter in overpopulated European cities. Renault is offering a new version of its compact Clio and Peugeot is offering a second-generation version of its 208.

Bring money

Geneva tends to be a venue for upmarket automakers such as McLaren, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin to showcase magnificent rides at prices of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This year is no exception: the Volkswagen Group Lamborghini presents the Huracan EVO Spyder convertible, an elegant, low-profile machine that goes from 0 to 100 km / h in 3.1 seconds and reaches a top speed of 325 km. / h). Suggested retail prices start at € 202,437 in Europe and $ 287,400 in the United States, excluding tax.

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