A fair number of interesting stories came out of Geneva this week. We learned, for example, that Jeep almost got yanked from the UK market in 2012. And has apparently been saved by the (Fiat-built) Renegade. Volkswagen‘s little diesel difficulty isn’t worrying GM Europe – Opel’s boss wants to increase the diesel mix as he also adds a little electrification to the bowl. Even better, after years of losses and not a little restructuring pain (RIP Bochum and Antwerp plants), breakeven is on the cards this year.
We also discovered that would-be Saab saviour and Spyker chief Victor Muller is back, PSA’s gussied-up Citroen-based DS brand has electrification in mind and Nissan’s revived Datsun is making the most of a weak rouble to boost exports from Russia. We also got our first look at the almost-production Honda Civic hatchback that will be built in Britain for the world and I, based on the C-HR photos (someone had to mind the shop and no first-class junket offers to Geneva came my way as usual) wondered whether Toyota designers have children. As usual, we bundled all our Geneva coverage into one box, here.
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Elsewhere, Mazda reportedly has decided to axe minivans and concentrate on SUVs. Ironically in the week FCA, ‘inventor’ of the North American minivan and one of the few remaining players there, started Pacifica production. Based on a brief go in a diesel years after launch, I liked the Mazda 5/Premacy but they hardly helped its chances in Europe by mostly not offering an automatic transmission option, as in other markets. The one Mazda SUV I have driven – the CX-3 – suggests the automaker knows how to build such models and the CX-5 (there are/have been also larger CX-7s and CX-9s in other markets) has long sold very well but we still await confirmation of the decision if it has indeed been taken.
Kia confirmed what I reported in a Sportage launch article recently – it will ‘connect’ all its European models within two years and we had a survey claiming half of British drivers are concerned about the safety of the connected car. We also had an update from Kia on autonomous cars.
Have a nice weekend.
Graeme Roberts, Deputy Editor, just-auto.com
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