With all the global vehicle debuts of this year’s NAIAS now revealed, Glenn Brooks looks ahead to the other big motor shows of 2014, and the cars likely to be launched there.
We didn’t have to wait long for the next motor show after Detroit, with the Brussels show also opening its doors this week. Nothing of major significance is there; only a mid-life facelift for the Opel/Vauxhall Meriva, a front-wheel drive Insignia Country Tourer, and the third iteration of a concept which previews the future Jaguar XQ crossover. The second of these won’t enter production until late 2015 but this year sees the arrival of the most important Jaguar for a long time: the (X760) Q-TYPE. The Solihull plant is due to make up to 80,000 units of this Mercedes-Benz C-Class challenger from late 2014.
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JLR also intends to see Land Rover’s model range expand further still with the arrival of project L550, the replacement for the Freelander. The name is due to change to Discovery Sport (LR2 may be retained in North America) and as well as full manufacturing at Halewood, there should also be assembly in China, Brazil and India.
Joining L550 at what should be a Geneva debut will be all manner of other new vehicles. Already, we know about the Audi TT; BMW 2 Series Active Tourer; Qoros 3 hatchack; Lamborghini Huracán; Peugeot 308 SW; SEAT León Cupra; the Citroën C1, Peugeot 108 and Toyota Aygo triplets; plus SsangYong’s X100 rival for the Ford EcoSport, but what else is due to make an appearance?
In no particular order, other Geneva debutantes are likely to be the first five-door Mini hatchback (to be followed by a new convertible later in the year); the Mazda2; BMW’s M4 Convertible; the Mercedes A-Class Shooting Brake, V-Class, C-Class estate and S 500 PHEV; the smart forfour; Lexus’ NX 200; Fiat’s Bravo replacement as well as the Fiat 500X and Jeep Scamp twins; Renault‘s third generation Twingo; and from Volkswagen, the Touran & CrossGolf plus the Golf Sportsvan and a facelifted Polo. The Citroën C-Cactus will also have its public debut – it will have been revealed at a special event on 5 February.
A GM insider has told just-auto that the production version of the Adam Rocks concept will also be at Geneva, but we’ll have to wait until Paris in September to see the new Corsa.
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By GlobalDataAfter Geneva, it’s back to North America for the New York show. There, we’ll see the seventh generation LF series Hyundai Sonata, and possibly also: the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe & C 300 PHEV; BMW X6; Lexus NX 300h; Maserati Levante, Scion FR-S Roadster; Dodge Challenger, with the fastest variant to be powered by Chrysler’s as yet unseen supercharged 6.2-litre Hellcat V8; Mazda CX-9; and Subaru Legacy and Outback. There won’t then be a major show on US soil until November.
Here’s something unusual about this year’s launches: of the top 20 best selling light trucks and cars of 2013, not one is due to be replaced in 2014. That shows just how busy last year and 2012 were for new vehicle launches in North America.
I need to backtrack by a couple of months and note that February is the month for the New Delhi auto expo, followed by the Chicago show. Tata Motors will use its home market event to reveal a new version of the Nano, the Twist, with Maruti Suzuki set to pull the covers off a new model that features an equally new automated manual transmission. This could well be the YRA project, a car to take on the Hyundai i20, or it might instead be the smaller Celerio (YL7). Ford should also launch the production version of the new Endeavour at the auto expo, having shown it to journalists at an event in Sydney last year.
A new Ford Taurus is expected in 2014, and so Chicago could be the venue where it will be revealed, with other possible models to include the 2015 Chevy Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD; Hyundai Genesis coupe; the Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid; Acura TLX; Kia Sedona; BMW X4; Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana replacements; Nissan Murano & Murano Hybrid; Honda Pilot; and Kia Soul EV.
Returning to April, in addition to the NYIAS, this is also the month for AutoChina 2014 in Beijing. Local manufacturers’ debutantes could include any of all of the following: Brilliance H120 (A-segment model); Chery Tiggo 6 (C segment SUV previewed by the Beta 5 concept at the 2013 AutoShanghai); MG Icon; and Great Wall Haval H2, to name a handful. Foreign and domestic OEMs’ JVs’ highlights might consist of some of these models: Shanghai GM’s Buick Anthem (Audi Q5 rival); the first car for SVW’s Tantus EV brand; the production version of CAPSA’s Citroën DS 5LS; Daimler-BYD’s Denza EV; and an SUV for Dongfeng Nissan. Other possible launches could include the Audi TT spider, the BMW 5 Series PHEV, the Peugeot 308 sedan, and the Audi A5.
Jumping to September and the Paris show, Volvo’s XC90 will be one of the expected stars. This is also the likely venue for the launch of the third generation smart fortwo; the Fords S-MAX and Galaxy; a new Škoda Fabia; the fourth generation Toyota Avensis; the next VW Passat and Shuttle/Multivan plus the up! TwinDrive and Golf TwinDrive PHEVs; the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer Li (long wheelbase); Hyundai’s next i20 as well as the ix25, a rival for the Juke; the Kia Sorento; the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Convertible & S-Class Maybach; Nissan Europe’s Barcelona-built ‘Almera’ (Golf rival) and made-in-Sunderland Infiniti Q30; the (four-cylinder) Porsche Macan and Macan S Diesel; the SEAT Ibiza; the production version of the Suzuki Authentics concept; and Renault’s Clio Initiale Paris, plus its CMF architecture Laguna, Espace and Grand Espace.
The Alfa Romeo Giulia, once pencilled in for a Geneva 2014 debut, then Paris, is increasingly likely to be delayed until 2015. An additional model for Audi might be similarly bumped into next year but don’t rule out a potential surprise debut for the Q6 (Range Rover Sport rival) at Paris. A C1-based Citroen DS1 might also show up on Paris press day, as may the Peugeot 308 convertible.
Come October and it’s time for the São Paulo show. Will Volkswagen reveal the production version of the Taigun concept which premiered at the 2012 event? This B segment SUV (VW126) will likely be manufactured not just in Brazil but also in Europe, India and China. There is a chance that Škoda will have a version of this model in Europe and China from 2015 or 2016, with ‘Polar’ the supposed model name.
Rounding out the year will be the Los Angeles and Guangzhou shows. Likely premieres at LA include the hydrogen-fuelled Audi A7 Sportback h-tron; BMW X7; Volkswagen Tiguan & Jetta Alltrack; Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG, powered by a new 4.0-litre turbo V8; Cadillac ATS convertible; GMC Terrain; Jeep’s C-SUV (one vehicle to replace the Compass and Patriot); plus Porsche’s Macan S Hybrid.
Models which should have their global debuts in the southern Chinese city would be the MG 4 (Qashqai rival); Changan CS75 (full-sized SUV previewed by a prototype at the 2013 IAA); Jiangling X6 (to compete with the Hyundai Santa Fe); Dongfeng D23 (based on the Peugeot 206 sedan); the first car for FAW Toyota’s Ranz EV brand; the CAPSA JV’s Citroën DS9; and possibly a new C segment Volkswagen sedan.
No doubt there will be dozens of other models that will also appear throughout 2014: Nissan will tell us more about the Datsun vehicle it will manufacture in Russia in April, this year’s Korean national show is in Busan in May, there will of course be multiple models released by Japanese manufacturers in their home market (there’s no Tokyo show this year), I could go on, but then soon enough we’d be talking about 2015.
In fact, one manufacturer has already mentioned a world premiere for the next Detroit show: Nissan’s EVP Andy Palmer has just announced that the 2016MY Titan will be unveiled at the NAIAS in January 2015. If you subscribe to just-auto’s PLDB, you’ll already know the project code and to expect a 5.0-litre V8 Cummins diesel. Palmer wants to see 100,000 sales a year, a big jump over the 15,691 Titans sold in the US during 2013. Let’s see how it does against the BIG news of this year so far – the just-announced 2015MY Ford F-150, due on sale from Q4.
