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From YourSITE.com Events Coverage If you’ve been following the International Auto Show circuit in 2006, you’re likely to hear the Audi name spoken often. With the exception of a slightly flagging SEAT brand, Audi AG’s Audi and Lamborghini brands are on a roll. This was particularly evident at the 2006 Geneva International Auto Show, with numerous new product launches as well as a respectable showing of specialty cars utilizing Audi platforms or components.
Audi The activity started directly under the four-ring-adorned stand in the corner of Geneva’s PalExpo Center. Audi had no less than three world-launch models with the second-generation allroad, RS 4 Avant and RS 4 Cabriolet. Additionally, the company’s presentation included the European debut of their S6 sedan and Avant. Of these five vehicles, only the S6 sedan is relevant to the North American market for now, though the entire lineup is certainly relevant to Europe and the presentation was particularly frock with new product – a great sign of a strong and healthy automotive marque.
Looking more closely at the Audi stand, there were other interesting sites to see. Two Q7s showed the direction of the S-line model in addition to just what quattro GmbH can do with the new SUV with its Audi Exclusive level of tailoring. In particular, the S-line version shown is closer, particularly the wheels, to the Q7 slide shown to us by Audi of a North American spec car. Though not bound for North American shores as an Avant or a Cabriolet, the single RS 4 Avant shown on the floor of the Audi stand featured the same ‘Audi Ceramic’ composite brakes as a prototype RS 4 photographed in an executive parking area last year by a sharp-eyed enthusiast visiting the Audi Forum in Ingolstadt.Back then, sources at Audi weren’t sure if it was an exercise by the OEM supplier or something bound for production, though now we hear it will be a 5,000 Euro option in Europe and possibly (not definitely) bound for the states next model year.
Audi’s new R10 racecar looked menacing sitting above the Audi stand on an upper level. This new diesel-powered 12-cylinder sports prototype will have its race debut later this month at the 12-hours of Sebring and then later contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. In the Audi Collection shop, the latest emphasis on the RS cars was clearly seen with RS 4 branded clothing and new 1:43rd scale model RS 4 Avants. There’s also new Audi Sport gear that matches their more modern white motif seen worn by Audi Sport staff at DTM races.
Lamborghini A direct neighbor to Audi in the PalExpo Center was its Italian sister Lamborghini. An updated Murcielago in the form of the grey LP460 model was shown for the first time, taking center stage. With a harder edge than standard Murcielagos, 640 hp and carbon-fiber brakes, the LP640 takes Sant Agata’s top car to a whole new level. The LP640 was flanked by both coupe and spyder variants of the Gallardo, and elsewhere in the stand, Lamborghini debuted the Miura concept for the very first time in Europe. The Miura is strikingly true to the original design, and could be compared with relative ease by show attendees with an original version of the car parked in the Bertone booth.
SEAT It’s been a rough year at SEAT. The Spanish brand’s latest products have not been received as well as its parent would like – perhaps due to most offerings moving to a five-door configuration that makes it hard to tell an Altea, from a Toledo and even a Leon for example. Though not wholly owned by Audi AG, the so-called Audi Brand Group within parent Volkswagen AG still controls SEAT, and has taken a stance that it will turn the marque around. Highlighting the recently-introduced Ibiza range, SEAT tried something completely different by tying their new Ibiza to the comic book adventures of racecar driver Michel Vaillant. You have to hand it to the Spaniards for creativity. The car, with no intentions of being built, was a great-looking exercise that incorporated an edgier take on SEAT design, Vaillant’s triangular logo both adorned and penned into the overall look, and a cool-looking matte satin blue finish. Even the company’s press kit was fashioned to look like a hard back graphic novel of the comic, while body doubles for characters from the comic helped introduce the car.
Specialty Cars and Aftermarket With Audi’s modern rise in stature as a maker of fine cars, use of its potent engines has seen more than a few offerings from the cottage industry of specialty car builders. Familiar players such as Gumpert with their extreme Apollo sportscar and Spyker with their finely tailored sculptures that double too as sportscars were both on display in an official capacity at the show. Spyker even showed an expansion of its brand with not just a variant of their C8 sportscar architecture, but a full-blown W12-powered SUV called the D12 ‘Peking to Paris’.
It may be a bit fish-like in appearance, but the D12 is undeniably impressive in the appearance of its material quality, and a fire-breathing 500 hp W12 combined with all-wheel drive and seating for four should help back up its aggressive look. The new so-called ‘Super Sport Utility Vehicle’ or SSUV is named for the 1907 Peking to Paris race in which Spyker competed. Made of aluminum panels hung on an aluminum space frame, the D12 will hit 62 mph in an impressive 5.0 seconds and rolls on aggressive 24-inch aeroblade wheels.
OE Manufacturer Valmet Automotive is perhaps best known for their production of the Porsche Boxster, though they’ve regularly shown folding hardtop versions of both the Audi A4 and Volvo C70. This year, the company again showed an Audi, this time a B7 version that appeared very similar to the B6 prototype shown two years ago. In fact, press materials included photos of the old car, and as near as we can tell, the design of the roof is essentially unchanged and very similar to the segmented roofs now in production on the new Volvo C70 successor and Volkswagen EOS. The idea of a folding hard top is an interesting one, though the hard-top A4 looks a bit top heavy, particularly from rear angles, and the A4’s polished aluminum trim windscreen surround would blend better with the hardtop if it were painted. Additionally, from driving the Volvo C70 recently, we learned that it would be difficult due to sheer mass of the hard top, to install such a top with the sort of functionality at speed that the new B7 soft-top A4 can now perform.
Though bone stock, Karmann Coachworks had a second RS 4 Cabriolet in their stand. Karmann builds the Cabriolet models for Audi, and the Karmann RS 4 looked a bit more menacing than Audi’s with its dark gray paint and black interior. RS 4 Cabriolets are still rare enough, with the only other publicly seen nearby in the Audi booth, that this gray version warranted a mention.
The aftermarket showing at Geneva isn’t quite as deep as the several floors of halls typically shown at the Frankfurt IAA, but still rather significant. A hometown favorite is Swiss-based Sportec. Known for attractive body kits and those great-looking wheels, Sportec showed their take on Audi’s B7 A4 Avant 2.0T with handsome new body kit, blacked out grille, custom interior and 300hp.
Vintage A classic addition to the Geneva Auto Show was the ‘Revue Automobile’, a celebration of both 100 years of automobiles and 100 years of the Swiss car magazine ‘Auto Revue’. This exposition was not very large, with only about 15 cars, though three of these were Audis – an Auto Union Grand Prix Racecar, NSU Ro80 and Audi Quartz coupe concept by Pininfarina. Summary It was clear at Geneva, whether it was the number of new models from Audi, the large crowd drawn to a subtly modified Murcielago, the wide use of Audi components in specialty cars and more, the four rings are currently on a roll and in-favor within the automotive industry. That said, this is a fickle industry and the popularity of a brand is often cyclical. We’ll take what we can for now and enjoy the spotlight the four rings has earned. With a little luck, that spotlight will stay for years to come.
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