Along with Frankfurt and Paris the Geneva Motor Show is the most important European and world motoring event. But while the French capital and the German city of Frankfurt alternate the organisation of the autosalon (this year it is the turn of Paris starting 4 October), in Geneva car enthusiasts have a comprehensive overview of the production of all the most prestigious automobile companies, including their innovations, every year. And in spring what’s more, before the summer motoring season really takes off.
This year 260 exhibitors presented their wares at Geneva and the fair was visited by almost 715,000 members of the public, 5,000 motoring journalists and another 10,000 media representatives. It is therefore no surprise that the vast majority of the premieres of new car models takes place at the Palexpo exhibition grounds.
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This year the VW concern introduced the innovations it has made to its brands to invited journalists and guests by a somewhat unusual method at a gala evening on 3 March, the day before the beginning of the autosalon and the official press days. |
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Dr. Eckhard Scholz, member of the Board of Directors and head of technical development at Škoda Auto (first on the left) had his hands full. He explained to journalists how the system of opening the five-door Twindoor operates on the new Superb, and illustrated it in practice. |
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The Twindoor system was the biggest draw for all the journalists and specialists who visited the Škoda Auto stand. The originality of the technical design was also rated highly by invited guests and the representatives of Škoda importers from around the world. |
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A typical feature of press days – “specialists” from competing firms attentively scrutinise, test, make notes of everything, take photos and shoot film. Not a single detail escaped them on the new car; as well as the new design they were interested in the quality of materials and the craftsmanship. |
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The member of the Board of Directors of Škoda Auto responsible for sales and marketing, Fred Kappler, was very satisfied with the successful world premiere of the new generation of the Superb. The management has placed high hopes on the new model, which, along with the Octavia is to become another one of the brand’s pillars. |
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The director of the Škoda Auto Kvasiny branch, Jan Tauchman, persuaded himself at first hand at Geneva that the new model provoked great interest amongst journalists and specialists. Production of the new Škoda Superb at Kvasiny has just begun. On Monday 17 March the last Superb of the first generation rolled off the production line of the Kvasiny branch. |
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The reaction of media representatives naturally means a lot to every exhibitor, not only to the exhibition itself and the services on offer, but above all to the cars on show. During both press days elegant questioners were on hand ascertaining what most attracted the journalists, photographs and television crews about the Škoda Auto exhibition and why. |
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Environmentally friendly vehicles were already a theme of last year’s show, but this year the trend at Geneva went even further. There wasn’t a single exhibition in which there wasn’t at least one car in white and someone explaining what great emphasis the producer had laid on the development and production of “ecological” vehicles. Naturally the Superb Greenline was on show at the Škoda Auto stand. |
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The introduction of each new model is accompanied at autosalons by some kind of fanfare. In the case of the Škoda Auto stand the performance by the dance company accompanied by elegant violinists was very impressive. |
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In the opinion of many journalists the models who posed at the Škoda Auto exhibition by the new Superb and other cars on show were amongst the most beautiful girls to be seen at Geneva this year. |
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