It has always been one of the most important motor shows in the world of cars but the one that opens today 9 March in Geneva, in its 87th edition, in addition to the appeal and fascination of almost 100 previews, starting with the fabulous Ferrari Superfast 812 – the most powerful car on the road with its 12 horsepower 800-cylinder and 340 km speed – is lucky enough to fall into a particularly hot and electrifying moment in the four-wheel industry with the French Peugeot announcing just on the eve of the Geneva motor show the acquisition of the German Opel and the English Vauxall by General Motors.
To add fuel to the fire of the news that is shaking the environment here is Sergio Marchionne to announce his exit from FCA in 2018, two still intense years at the head of the Italian-American group during which the top manager of the Agnelli house - which he pursued in September 2010 the dream of putting his hand to Opel after the blitz on Chrysler – he expects other great agreements, foreseeing that "Volkswagen will come to us to talk". Hypothesis today rejected and denied by the German company but it is undeniable that the integration between PSA and Opel will put pressure on the Wollsburg group as regards European leadership. PSA receives 6 factories, five plants to produce the parts, the engineering center in Russelsheim, Germany and 40 employees. Only the engineering laboratory in Turin, flagship of General Motors, will remain in the hands of the Americans. An overall operation worth over 2 billion euros which will inevitably affect the balance of power in Europe but also in the world.
Disaster (more than 15 billion dollars in losses since 2000) but courted, Opel leaves the perimeter of General Motors and enters the French perimeter of Psa Peugeot-Citroen, an acquisition that makes Carlos Tavares, the executive chairman of Peugeot , the most awaited star of the show. For a long time Carlos Ghosn's right-hand man in Renault, father of the Megane project, it was inevitable that sooner or later the two Carlos would become too cumbersome for each other: as happens with two roosters in the same chicken coop, even in Boulogne-Billancourt, Renault headquarters, it turned out there was one Carlos too many. And the Portuguese one, precisely Tavares, "exiled" by Ghosn to Japan to take care of Nissan, jumped at Peugeot's offer in 2014, which was fed up with Philippe Varin's budget deficit. The Instinct Concept that Peugeot is presenting in Geneva is a showcase for the group's future under the impetus of Tavares, a group which, by annexing Opel and Vauxall, has become the second largest European automotive force with 4,5 million vehicles.
A future that not only for PSA focuses decisively on autonomous driving, on hybrids, on electrics, in an increasingly connected car where the alliances that car manufacturers will form with the digital dominators, such as Apple, Google, Microsoft will be essential . While waiting for the revolution underway to bring us to the car of tomorrow, there is an open battle between the playmakers of the car industry in every segment, from city cars to large sports cars. The SUV area is increasingly decisive for budgets and leadership, where new products multiply every year with particularly attractive, sophisticated and compact toys: from the Alfa Romeo Stelvio to the Range Rover Velar, from the Renault Captur to the VW Tiguan Allspace. There is only the embarrassment of choice. In fact, the SUV has now retired the minivan, born and established itself in the USA at the end of the 80s with the legendary Chrysler Voyager at the time of Lee Iacocca – who also liked Avvocato Agnelli so much. The first Renault Scenic that appeared at the turn of the millennium was also unforgettable. Also for this reason, Psa Tavares wants to speed up the launch of the heir to Citroen's glorious Picasso, now a little too marked by time despite the various restylings. In Geneva for the moment the French group will present the C-Aircross Concept prototype which will inspire the new B-Suv with an aesthetic that moves away from the C3 Picasso and approaches that of the C4 Cactus.
In this ferment of alliances between car manufacturers and leaders of the web and Silicon Valley, the Geneva Motor Show will also present the novelty of the first digital tyre. It is launched by Pirelli with the "Pirelli Coccetto", a platform integrated into the P Zero or Winter Sottozero tire available as a spare part in a black or colored version which, thanks to a sensor fixed in the groove (i.e. on the inner wall of the tire itself) and connected to an app, it communicates with the motorist, providing information on some fundamental parameters relating to the functioning of the tire as well as a series of personalized services.
Pirelli Coccetto will be available in a first phase for Prestige cars in sizes from 19 inches upwards for the P Zero and Winter Sottozero ranges. In its first release, it will recognize the tire identification code by measuring pressure, temperature, static vertical load, wear and the number of kilometers travelled. Subsequently, Pirelli Coccetto will also be able to estimate the kilometers still practicable and report pressure losses. The first country of distribution, starting from the summer of 2017, will be the United States, where the platform was developed in partnership with leading companies in the digital sector. The main European and Far East markets will follow the USA.
