Motor Show 2016 - under the sign of SUVs

A truly rich edition of the Poznań Motor Show is behind us. The recent Geneva Motor Show 2016 helped a bit, because many cars that had their premieres in Switzerland could be seen in Poland for the second time. The exception was Hyundai, which... preferred Poznań.

What most attracts crowds of viewers at the Motor Show are cars shown in Poland for the first time. So if we consider premieres as the main measure of the fair's quality, this year the level was very high.

Traditionally, one entire hall was reserved for its cars by the Volkswagen Group (Audi, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen). As if that was not enough, Audi owned a large area of the zone located outside, between the main halls. The second large piece of this space was taken by BMW , which also reserved a lot of space inside for its own brand cars and MINI. The Bavarian concern was also present in the section devoted to motorcycles. The other leaders in exhibition space are the PSA group (Citroen, Peugeot, DS), Mercedes, JLR (Jaguar and Land Rover), Hyundai, Kia, FCA (Fiat/Chrysler), Toyota and Honda. Also present were Ferrari, Maserati, Infiniti, Ford, Suzuki, Nissan, Renault, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Volvo and Rolls Royce.

Big premieres

Important events were the presentation of two SUVs, both of which were not within Kowalski's financial reach (even a middle-class one).

Maserati Levante - the first SUV of this Italian brand - had its Polish premiere. The future of Maserati will depend on the market success of this model, which is why we are rooting for this large and (though not always hand-in-hand) neat SUV to succeed. For now, there is a chance for this, because, for example, half of the units intended for our market have already been sold in Poland. It is worth mentioning that all Levante engines are coupled to the intelligent Q4 all-wheel drive, which can transfer torque between the axles when an urgent need arises.

On the opposite side of the same hall , F-Pace was presented - also the first Jaguar SUV . This model is interesting because it shows the change taking place within the company itself. Until recently, the brand wanted to be associated with luxury limousines. Today, it is not afraid to offer cars priced from PLN 199,000. PLN (that's how much the F-Pace will cost), and in addition, it offers a relatively "inexpensive" car from a category that has been dominated by expensive Range Rovers (belonging to the same concern) for years. So will Jaguar soon turn out to be a cheaper version of Range Rover? Let's hope that the brand will maintain its distinct style, but it's nice to know that the manufacturer offers a 3-year free service package as an addition to the F-Pace.

Compact news

Anyone who doesn't like Jaguar or Maserati could come down to earth at the joint stand of Fiat and Jeep. During the fair, you could try on the Fiat Tipo , which has a good chance of becoming one of the top five best-selling cars in Poland. Success can be ensured by an affordable price, decent quality and solid equipment. It seems that Fiat really knows how to make cheap cars that drive well and don't scare away with shoddy finishes.

The second interesting novelty from Fiat was the 124 Spider model, next to which there was a restored version of the Fiat 124. The reference to history in this case can be considered exceptionally successful. And it doesn't matter that the new Fiat is based on Mazda MX-5 components.

What happened at the Volkswagen stand? It's nice that the old "cucumber", or - if you prefer - the Bulli model, was so exposed. The car attracted the attention of visitors no less than modern cars. From the driver's perspective, comfortable seats and excellent all-round visibility can still impress. The Bulli and the Transporter in the tourist California version slightly distracted the viewers' attention from the main attraction, which was the new Tiguan . The car is to be equipped with, among others: in Emergency Assist, which will stop the vehicle when its driver faints.

In the same hall, you could see the Seat Leon in the Cupra 290 version - this model accelerates to 100 km/h in 5.7 seconds. You could also see the Seat Alteca - another "first SUV" of a famous brand at the Motor Show 2016.

Since we're talking about off-road cars, it's worth mentioning the Q2 models and the e-Tron Quattro concept. The latter model is still a slightly futuristic vision developed by a Pole - Kamil Łabanowicz. The car is distinguished by, among others, extremely low air resistance coefficient of 0.25! The car is scheduled to enter production in 2018.

Luxury to power

Okay, maybe that's enough of these SUVs, but in fact they dominated this year's Motor Show.

Those looking for a car that they can enjoy driving on asphalt roads may be interested in the MINI Convertible in the "Caribbeam Aqua" color. And if they want to transport a family in a MINI - there was also a Clubman model with trunk doors that opened like shutters.

From the MINI stand, it is close to the BMW stand, where there are luxuries - including: limousines in the Individual version with hand-sewn upholstery (you could also watch a sewing demonstration). The biggest attraction was undoubtedly the M760Li xDrive model - it is the top version of the "seven", which, thanks to its 600-horsepower engine, accelerates to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds. The sports hybrid - the i8 model with doors that open upwards - also caused a sensation.

When it comes to luxury, we cannot leave out Mercedes. Several convertibles were shown in Poznań: S, SLC and the facelifted SL model. However, the biggest attraction of the stand was to be the new E-class model, which was "dangerously" close to the S-class. The hallmark of the new E model is to be the elegantly finished cabin, although light, quilted leather will probably not be available in the cheapest version. The manufacturer calls this model "the most intelligent executive class limousine in the world", so I leave it to your imagination how long the list of all the innovations used in this car would have to be if I were to list them now. A more modern power steering and an even more advanced lane change assistant are just two of the many new features.

Other news

Truly, it is impossible to describe all the new products in one article. Therefore, I will only mention that the new S90 and V90 models aroused great interest at the Volvo stand. An interesting curiosity in the part reserved by Citroen was the Spacetourer family van (it is worth taking a closer look at it). Peugeot presented a new SUV (of course!) - called 2008 - which is supposed to be small but very versatile. The concept SUV was also on the Mitsubishi stand ( Ex Concep ). Renault showed a completely new Megane model (also in the Sport version!). But when it comes to sports emotions, the Porsche 911 R or the Audi R8 V10 plus will certainly provide greater emotions, which were also present in Poznań.

What about the Hyundai brand mentioned at the beginning? At a large stand, the Korean manufacturer presented its entire range of models, including a hybrid called IONIQ and a luxury model sold under the name Genesis . However, for the Polish branch of the brand, the most important was the Elantra model, because they managed to make this car have its European premiere at the Motor Show 2016. So it was in Poznań that you could see a model that would be difficult to find in Geneva.

Keep it up! Let's hope that there will be more and more premieres every year.