The Hindu Business Line : Bologna Motor Show 2007 — Showcased at the home of speed

The Bologna Motor Show is relatively compact compared to the biggies in Europe — the Geneva and Frankfurt motor shows. But it is still a premier event. A roundup of the 2007 edition of the Show.

For tourists visiting Italy, Bologna may not often be a preferred pit stop. The city of Bologna (pronounced Bolonya) is steeped in history and old-world charm, but it ranks lower in the grandeur quotient compared to some of the other Italian cities, such as Rome, Pisa, Venice, Milan and Florence.

But, for fans of cars and speed, Bologna is haloed ground. Bologna and its neighbouring towns have a long history of automotive manufacture.

Some of the biggest Italian brands have been based from out of this famous cultural and industrial centre. Ducati, Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini are all big names of the Italian automobile industry and all of them still either have their manufacturing facilities or their roots in and around Bologna.

Towns like Modena, Maranello and Sant Agata are all located near Bologna and are all celebrated centres of automotive excellence. It is not surprising then that Bologna is also famous for hosting Italy’s most important motor show event.

Small, but premier

The Bologna Motor Show is relatively compact in terms of size compared to the other European biggies such as the Geneva and Frankfurt motor shows, but this show is still a premiere event for most of the global automobile companies, car enthusiasts and trade professionals alike.

We were in the midst of the all the action at this year’s, the 32nd edition of the Bologna International Automobile Exhibition.

There were over 95 debuts at the 2007 edition of the Bologna Motor Show, with 11 worldwide and six European previews. The 11 worldwide previews included the Volkswagen Space Up! Blue, and the latest by Peugeot, which has revealed the name of its new vehicle as Bipper, originally released as a van and now transformed into a car with Tepee interiors.

Porsche presented the new Boxster RS60 Spyder, which will be manufactured as a limited edition of just 1,960 vehicles — and is inspired by the 718 RS60 Spyder that dominated the motor racing scene during the 1960s.

Opel unveiled its new Zafira MCE, and Subaru showcased the Impreza STI N14 by Prodrive, derived from the on-road version and which will take part in the 2008 Italian Rally Championship.

One highlight was the worldwide preview of the HUMMER H3 Black Edition, of which just 50 units will be sold in Europe, starting from the end of the year. This took the number of worldwide previews at the 2007 Motor Show to seven.

The HUMMER H3 Black Edition therefore joined the Ford Focus Style Wagon, Renault Modus “Restyle”, Renault Grand Modus, a Citroen concept car, Peugeot’s Bipper and our very own Tata Motors with its Ace Elettrico.

Six European previews were also witnessed at this year’s Bologna Motor Show, including the new Lancer Evolution (Evo) by Mitsubishi and the Subaru Impreza 2.5 WRX STI AWD. Two Indian companies — Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra — had an impressive presence at the show.

While Tata Motors had the new Xenon pick-up single cab and double cab and the electric version of the Ace pick-up, M&M’s presence at the show included the six-seater Mahindra Goa GLX 2.5 CRDe Common Rail Turbo Diesel (Scorpio in India), the Bolero Pick-Up 2.5 CRDe, Euro 4, Single Cabin and the Goa DX Euro 4.

In addition to the worldwide launch of the HUMMER, the newcomers were the Kia Picanto 1.0 Spirit a GPL, Lexus IS F, Nissan Micra Foxlife and the Subaru Justy.

Strong Italian, German presence

The Italian marques were all there in strength too, with the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, the Lamborghini Reventon and the Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S and GranTurismo all on display. Fiat has the most massive stall of all the manufacturers at the show, with a funky layout and display for the new Fiat 500.

The whole bunch of German carmakers were all there including Porsche, BMW with its X6 SUV, Audi with its R8 and new A4 and Mercedes Benz with its Classe C 63 AMG.

Japanese car companies Toyota, Suzuki, Nissan, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi also had interesting displays, which included a few concepts.

The other interesting cars at the Show were the Hyundai i10, the Volkswagen new Beetle Cabriolet, the Bentley Continental GT Speed and the cute Fiat 500, the reborn, iconic micro car that was unveiled by the Italian car major in July this year.

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