Geneva Motor show set to hit the road

An employee prepares Audi A5 2.0 T Quattro car ahead of the 84th Geneva Motor Show at the Palexpo Arena in Geneva March 3, 2014. The Geneva Motor Show will run from March 6 to 16, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Geneva International Motor Show is set to open its doors to the public from March 6-16, and reveal this year's Car of the Year winner. The President of the Swiss Confederation, Didier Burkhalter, will officially open this year's 84th show on March 6.

During the two days before the opening, more than 10,000 media representatives from all over the world will participate in about 65 press conferences held by all the major automobile manufacturers.

Journalists will come together first for the election of the Car of the Year. The final vote will be made to crown the victor from the seven finalists, a group that includes for the first time two models that are fully electric: the sporty Tesla Model S and the BMW i3 city car.

A total of 700,000 visitors are expected to attend this not-to-be-missed annual event. The show this year displays about 900 vehicles for today and for tomorrow, features a test track for electric cars, and a retrospective of the 90 years of that most mythical of automobile races: the Le Mans 24 Hours race.

About 250 exhibitors will be sharing the stage over the 110,000 square meters of the exhibition halls of Palexpo. For the first time, the sports car manufacturers Zenvo Automotive and Ermini Automobili, as well as the preparation specialists Klassen-Automobile and Nimrod Performances, will be presenting at the show. In addition, new exhibitors will include the University of Helsinki Metroplia and the group AKKA Technologies in association with MBtech, all of whom will be unveiling their concepts for electric vehicles.

A test track for small electric vehicles will be laid out over an area of 870 square metres in Hall 1 in the middle of the cars on display. Visitors will have the possibility to learn about the particularities and the operation of these vehicles. They can test the acceleration, comfort and silence of these city cars which will be made available by BMW, Citroen, Mitsubishi and Renault.

Geneva International Motor Show, which takes place every year, is a member of the top 5 motor shows worldwide and the only one recognized by the International Organization of Automobile Constructors that takes place annually in Europe.

The first Swiss Motor Show was held in Geneva's Electoral Building from 29 April to 7 May 1905.

The Permanent Committee of the Geneva Motor Show (Comité permanent du Salon international de l'automobile à Genève) was established on November 3, 1923; the Committee immediately began planning the first International Motor, Moto and Cycle Show to be held from 14 to 23 March 1924.

The Geneva International Motor Show began to achieve global renown in 1934 and by 1939, the number of exhibitors had reached about 200.

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