Geneva motor show report and photo gallery 2016

Usually at the international car show it's easy to pick trends. It will be a plug-in hybrid, or SUV, or autonomous car - or just a car with too much horsepower - which seems to lead most of the manufacturers in a certain direction.

This year's Geneva motor show to do what people have been raving about it for down the years: it was everything. Switzerland's largest motorcycle event the city has always been popular with exhibitors and attendees for the cage there is not one. Tata meets Porsche and Subaru SsangYong meet on neutral territory, and the amount of attention anyone got nothing to do with home advantage.

You win strictly on merit notice, which is why everyone seems to bring their best work to expand-but-still-managed collection of exhibition space in addition to convenient airports Geneva.

Aston Martin may take the honor with DB11, just because a completely new Aston is a rare event, and everyone seems to love the company today. Andy Palmer has humanised it even more. The car was pronounced handsome - and quite different - by most critics, which is especially important for companies that the model has been labeled too similar too long.

If it is supercar that you want, Bugatti also with £ 2m Chiron, the successor to the Veyron is so strong they had to design a new test track in the continent before it can show its full potential.

Maclaren also with incredible 570 GT - all of these companies do not seem to be better than his last impressive effort. Similarly, a small Geneva supercar maker is always interesting: Apollo, Arash, Kahn, Rimac, Techrules and other foreign names, this year with a more convincing effort than previous looks. You always wonder what holds these producers rose, although this year you can see the case for many people. Ferrari is the best effort to change the name of FF for GTC4 Lusso, which hardly seems sufficient at this supercar company, but may sell some cars anyway.

Desire comes in small packages too. Audi scored what will surely be an instant, king-hit internationally in a neat and small Crossover Q2, reminiscent of the A3 Sportback in styling, but as light and almost as compact as a B-segment hatch. Speaking B-hatch, Ford extended casualties, both up and down, signaling the arrival towards the end of the year of the "value" five-door called Ka +, while powering up the top Fiesta ST to 197 bhp as a gesture of farewell to a car that will be replaced in a year ,

Renault has a new MPV and outstanding designed Scenic mid-size to prove that the design team assembled by car human design time, Laurens van den Acker (which, really, has revised a large and complex variety of Renault since 2009 - and created some of the other entries along the way) they can do no wrong.

If it's a cute name you want, DS was there with E-Tense (one-off electric supercar looks like a larger Audi TT) and VW is still injured (which clump officials stood around laughing too hard at the jokes of their own) have a crossover attractive conversion T-Cross Breeze.

Porsche brought us down to earth with its 911 R, not because the car did not have the presence or the desire - far from it - but because playing for a different appeal from legacy difficulty and simplicity.

Going in, some commentators dubbed it a potential star of Geneva, and it wasn’t quite that, but it certainly pushed at a part of the envelope others missed. Given Porsche’s ability to lead trends at Geneva (remember the show-stopping debut of the 918 Spyder), perhaps a back to basics era is coming next.

How the Geneva motor show unfolded - live blog by Darren Moss

1900 - And that brings our live coverage of the Geneva motor show 2016 to a close. We hope you've enjoyed all of our stories on the new cars in Geneva, and feel free to tell us your show stars in the comments section below. We'll be back tomorrow with a full show report, as well as more pictures and analysis, so keep your eyes glued to this page. For now, goodnight and goodbye!

1845 - Things are winding down now in Geneva, but before we go we'll leave you with the genuine star of Geneva 2016 - and the poster child for a new generation of car lovers - the Bugatti Chiron.

1835 - Stephan Winkelmann has long been known as the boss of Lamborghini, but now he's stepping aside and heading off to Audi's Quattro division. Jim Holder caught up with him in Geneva.

1825 - We've got a fresh image in H2 Pininfarina concept car speed, which is powered by two electric motors and fed by a hydrogen fuel cell.

1730 - Jesse Crosse thinks he's found the best new invention in Geneva: "This has to be the innovation of the show. The clue is in the name of the Goodyear 360 future tyre concept. It's spherical. Instead of axles, the spheres support the car by magnetic levitation and there's no mechanical link between the wheels and the vehicle. Inside each one is an electric motor driving the inside of the sphere via small wheels.

"The outer shell forming the tread can be renewed when it wears out. The tread pattern reflects the fact that the spheres can rotate in any direction and is based on the shape of brain coral. Goodyear calls the approach 'biomimicry.'

"Director of tyre technology, Percy Lemaire,  says 'we calculate the power needed to levitate the car is quite low, around 200 watts.' That's the same as two old-school light bulbs. The wheels are packed with sensors to relay info on road conditions to the car and the wider world, supporting future autonomous vehicles. Total power from the four motors could be 60-150kW. A battery lives inside each wheel to drive the motors and are charged wirelessly by inductive charging."

1635 - This is a little worrying from Mark Tisshaw: "Think I may have just spotted my first grey hair in the mirror in the toilet. Possibly related to the look Sergio Marchionne gave me when I asked about the Dino."

1630 - Bentley boss Wolfgang Dürheimer has been telling Andrew Frankel about the company’s forthcoming 3.0-litre V6 plug-in hybrid powertrain, and how it will use its electric motors to provide "performance equivalent to that of our V8." 

When asked if that meant it would at least match the 500bhp output of the 4.0-litre V8 used in the Continental and Flying Spur ranges he replied, "that sounds like a good number, doesn’t it."

The new powertrain will first be seen in the Bentayga next year, but only after the V8 diesel version has been launched towards the end of 2016. The powertrain is essential not only to give diesel-averse customers in the US the range they desire but also to protect the company from the unpredictability of the Chinese authorities. "Already you cannot drive in the centre of Beijing without an electric drive," said Dürheimer, "and who knows if in the future they decide to limit the number of cylinders or engine capacity. This new engine makes us bullet-proof against such decisions."

1615 - Andrew Frankel captured this great moment on the Tesla stand. "How seriously does the opposition view the Tesla Model X?" he asks "Well this is is the most top of Mercedes top brass - Zetsche, Weber and Kallenius checking it out."

1604 - Andrew Frankel is now with Bentley, which he says will finally show the replacement for the long serving Continental GT towards the end of 2017, with sales beginning early in 2018. The new car will be built on a new aluminium intensive structure, likely to reduce the weight of an entry level V8 petrol model to below 2000kg. The car will also be launched with a 500bhp 3.0-litre V6 hybrid powertrain and the heavily reworked 6.0-litre W12 engine already serving under the bonnet of the Bentayga. The new 4.0-litre V8 diesel engine heading for the Bentayga is ‘under consideration for the car’ but not yet approved.

1600 - Toyota has revealed its new C-HR production model. The compact crossover gets a coupé-like roofline as designers wanted it to appear unique in the carmaker's range.

1540 - It’s become a tradition in recent years to hold events on the eve of the show itself. The biggest of these is the Volkswagen Group night, which takes place this evening and will give us a first look at some of the firm’s key metal.

1538 - The Geneva motor show is typically one of the biggest events in the motoring year, and 2016 looks to be no different. We’re expecting big-name unveilings from the likes of Audi, Bugatti, Mercedes-Benz, Renault and VW at this year’s show. To see the full list, scroll to the bottom of this page.

1535 - Don’t forget, as well as our live coverage you can also follow Autocar on social media. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and find us on Facebook for all the latest.

1533 - Your team on the ground in Geneva is Jim Holder, Steve Cropley, Mark Tisshaw, Mike Duff, Greg Kable, Nic Cackett, Matt Prior, Richard Brember, Julian Rendell, Hilton Holloway, Jesse Crosse and Andrew Frankel.

Running things from Autocar HQ are Matt Burt, Darren Moss, Matthew Burrow, Sam Sheehan, Jimi Beckwith, Doug Revolta and Hemal Mistry.

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