Europe’s most important motor show has paled in comparison to its glory days, but the Geneva Motor Show also shows how much things have changed in the European car market and how people learn about new cars. Dacia Duster was one of the stars and the Chinese had very big stands.

Cars in flashy colors, ice tribunes, music, elegant lights, scantily clad women, various simulators designed to attract the public, and a very large number of expensive cars – this is how the Geneva Motor Show looked like more than 10 years ago, which was held annually at the beginning of spring.

In 2024, the Genoa salon resumed after a four-year hiatus, but the animation became much less.

Three major motor shows were held in Europe: Geneva, Paris and Frankfurt (the last two were held in autumn, in different years). Geneva was the most important for two reasons: it was held every year and the news was gathered in a small space easily covered by the press.

In 2020, when the Covid 19 epidemic began, the show was canceled just days before and has not been held in subsequent years, returning only now, in late winter 2024. Such a “Geneva” show. – because it bore that name – was held in the fall of 2023 in Doha (Qatar), but had no news.

In the good old days, the show meant the launch of more than 150 new models, many of which were introduced then, in late February or early March, with the idea of ​​reaching showrooms no later than summer.

It was incredibly crowded, more than 50 conferences were held during the day, the first ones started before 8:00 a.m., and cars were arranged in 5-6 halls.

The Geneva Motor Show 2024 was tiny and the new products were in one hall, the most famous car group was Renault and for a change the biggest stands after the French were China’s BYD and MG, brands that have big plans for Europe and are willing to invest in getting people to know about them.

The Dacia stand was one of the biggest, and the stars were the Duster 3 and the Spring facelift. There were a lot of people stopping by the stand, including Chinese journalists, scrutinizing the Spring electrics produced in their country, and the stand also had a small shop where you could also buy models, including the Bigster concept (cost around 30 euros) . There was also a shop at the Renault stand, where a 10-centimeter model of the Renault R5 concept cost more than 60 euros.

The most successful editions of the Salon had more than 700,000 visitors, while estimates for the current edition were around 200,000. European motor shows have shrunk significantly compared to ten years ago, when more than 30 car brands were present, because the world has changed tremendously and the car market is no longer the same . In 2024, there were not even ten brands.

Car companies have come to the conclusion that it is not worth investing millions of euros in a big stand at prestigious car shows, and the way the public buys cars is less and less connected to big car shows.

A good part of the 2024 Geneva Motor Show was that the Romanian-made Dacia Duster was one of the stars of the show, alongside the Renault 5, an extremely handsome electric car presented in bright colors. From ordinary cars, there were Chinese BYDs, as well as the Chinese company that sells the most in Europe: MG. They had booths and much lesser known companies like Lucid Motors or Microlino.

As proof that the situation has changed, next to the most interesting stands, Swiss ambulances were displayed, and upstairs, where once there were dozens of new cars, now there is not even one, but only classic cars from 1930 to the present day. But this show was great for the variety and choice of cars.

But there was also an opportunity upstairs to see some cars of those brands that did not have stands, because the “Car of the Year 2024” award in Europe was presented. Renault Scenic E-Tech won, followed by BMW 5 Series and Peugeot 3008.

Geneva is one of the most expensive cities in Europe, a city where people from almost 200 countries live (well-known international organizations are located in the city). It is famous for Lake Leman, the large Jet d’Eau fountain and the Servette football team.

The car show was held at the Palexpo exhibition complex, a 15-minute walk from the airport. The prices for everything were “Swiss”: pizza 19 euros, sandwich 16 euros, bottle of water 5 euros (for simplicity I listed the prices in Swiss francs)

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