The British International Motor Show 2008, sponsored by Zurich Connect, is finally here. The show features 23 global debuts and more than 50 models making their first European or UK appearance. In total, visitors will be able to see 600 cars on show from 60 manufacturers, worth a total of more than £37 million.
Bring the family too for there are plenty of attractions such as the Kids’ Driving School, the boat show in the dock and music in the evening.
Press day was busy as ever with some paying public allowed to ease the finances and in fairness, it created a better more exciting atmosphere. Here are a few showstoppers without giving the game away too much.
Hyundai launched a new range of cars – branded i-Blue - which will offer emissions below the crucial 120g/km barrier. Savings for owners could be substantial though, with the i-Blue falling into VED Group B, cutting the cost of an annual tax disc from £120 to £35. The first car in the range will be an i30 hatchback powered by the familiar and acclaimed 1.6-litre CRDi engine costing £13,155. It is business users who will see the really impressive savings. The new company car tax band for diesels producing less than 120g/km has dropped from 18 to just 13 percent, saving higher rate taxpayers hundreds every year.
The fastest ever Corvette - - makes its UK debut. This blistering super car, which will be sold in the UK in limited numbers, has a new supercharged 6.2 LS9 small-block V-8 engine with 647PS maximum power and 819Nm peak torque. 0-60 mph takes just 3.4 seconds, 0-100 mph in 7.0 seconds while top speed is 205 mph making the Corvette ZR1 the fastest Corvette ever produced. Ferrari Engineered by Officine Panerai shows a collection of high-end watches from the luxury Italian watch brand Officine Panerai and will be on display to the public for the first time at this year’s ‘Ultimate Collection’ at the ExCeL centre in Docklands.
Ferrari is showcasing its bespoke personality with a diverse array of exotic and individually tailored Ferrari cars on display in the Ultimate Collection and the Ultimate Collection Public Gallery. With unique examples of the 430 Scuderia, 599 GTB Fiorano and 612 Scaglietti on display, there will be a Ferrari to please every fan of the Prancing Horse
Saab’s much talked about concept cars, the Saab 9-4X BioPower and the Saab 9-X BioHybrid caused a stir and a signal of Saab’s commitment to expanding its product portfolio. Both concepts share distinctive Scandinavian styling themes and feature further developments in Saabs technological lead in combining turbocharging with Saab BioPower. Saab’s full UK model range will also be on display, including the most recent addition to the line-up, the 9-3 2.0T XWD with 210 hp.
Ambitious Spanish carmaker SEAT made a thrilling world debut with the stylish new Ibiza SportCoupé, which goes on sale here on 1st October. The car on display at ExCeL includes unique body-colour detailing on the steering wheel, gear knob, door panels, ventilation nozzles, dashboard softpad and the area surrounding the air vent located between the steering wheel and the door. The Ibiza SC on show also features attractive, sporty seats upholstered in a combination of leather and black Alcántara with double orange stitching – another one-off feature.
HUMMER showcased the HX Concept, a nimble, reconfigurable off-road concept vehicle. HX Concept provides vision of a FlexFuel, open-air HUMMER. It has a convertible body with removable roof panels, modular rear roof assembly, easily removable fender flares and doors, full-time 4WD with front and rear locking differentials, is aeronautically inspired interior with functional, lightweight design elements with a 3.6L direct-injected V-6 E85 FlexFuel engine with six-speed automatic transmission.
RENAULT gave us a world debut with the new limited edition Mégane Renaultsport R26.R. Developed from the Mégane Renaultsport 230 F1 Team R26, the R26.R retains the same engine, gearbox and limited slip differential but with a significant weight reduction of 123kg. This achieves a new lap record of the Nürburgring of 8m 17s, making it the fastest for a front-wheel-drive production car. From the world of racing this car features a carbon bonnet, polycarbonate windows, Sabelt race seats, six-point harnesses with an optional roll cage and titanium exhaust. Priced at £22,990, the R26.R is limited to 450 examples worldwide, 230 of which will come to the UK. On sale from October.
Vauxhall launched its new Insignia today with an entry price of £15,935 for the 1.8-litre Exclusiv complete with high levels of equipment, including ESP, automatic headlights, an electric driver’s seat height adjuster and electrically adjustable four-way lumbar support. Cruise control is also standard on this model, along with single-zone climate control, front, side and curtain airbags, Isofix and ABS. The 1.8 ECOTEC petrol engine found in the entry level car, producing 140PS and 175Nm of torque, is one of five engines available in the Insignia range, each of which meets Euro 5 emissions standards.
Alesha Dixon unveiled the all-new Ford Fiesta Zetec S whilst performing her track ‘Fired Up’ live exclusively for the audience. Pyrotechnics were fired when the car was unveiled, and the finale was crowned by glitter falling over the applauding crowd, resulting in a truly show stopping performance. The Ford Fiesta Zetec S is the next generation of Britain's best-loved small car and is on sale form October 2008
Ford's new range of super frugal ECOnetic models showcased in the company’s bid to cut UK CO2 emissions by over 80,000 tonnes. The launch of the 76.3mpg Fiesta ECOnetic, producing 98g CO2/km, hands the title of UK's greenest car to Ford. At the same time that the Fiesta ECOnetic is being launched, Ford is announcing that all Ford dealerships in the UK will offer service customers the option of offsetting their vehicles' CO2 from September this year. Ford will be the first auto manufacturer in the UK to launch this initiative spanning service intervals based on engine size and mileage. CO2 will be offset via BP's Targetneutral scheme.
LANDROVER made a global debut with their new high-specification 'Autobiography' model heading the upgrades to the Range Rover line-up for 2009 as well as the LRX concept car complemented by the all-new 'Our Planet' zone, which showcases Land Rover’s progression towards a more sustainable future.
NICE Car Company quietly stormed the London show with three world debuts, two concepts in the electric vehicle village and ambitious growth plans. NICE, as well as being emissions-free, exempt from the London congestion charge and with running costs of a few pence per mile per mile, all NICE electric vehicles are quiet. Very quiet. Stand highlights include a global debut for the new Ze-O. European styled and developed and built in China, it will be the world’s first affordable, 5-door electric family car. Ze-O brings all the benefits of electric motoring in a package that boasts a range of up to 65 miles in typical city driving and makes no compromise on specification or styling. It will cost from as little as £13,995 when it goes on sale in the autumn.
Another world first comes from the stunning MyCar. This Italian-styled two-seater is small, attractive and competitively priced. It will start from under £9,000 when it too goes on sale in the autumn and has a range of around 40 miles - perfect for city motoring. All eyes clapped on the first all electric Fiat 500 which is just the beginning of NICE’s apparent quest to re make every car ever made into an electric version. Lets hope they start with Aston Martin!
One of the biggest stands was from MAZDA who had 16 cars on show including the new Furai concept car that is a 180mph rotary-engined mobile laboratory. Other models included the Mazda RX-8 R3 that delivers even more focused driving experience, upgraded BT-50 pickup now with 3-litre diesel and automatic transmission (for the UK only ‘Intrepid’ model) and the first UK showing for three-door versions of all-new Mazda2 supermini.
Cadillac presented the eagerly awaited all new right-hand drive CTS plus two concept vehicles, the CTS Coupe and the Provoq crossover. The all-new Cadillac CTS luxury sports saloon, which arrives in the UK showrooms this September, is powered by world-class 2.8 or 3.6 litre V6 petrol engines mated to a six-speed automatic transmission with manual mode. An advanced 2.9 litre V6 diesel engine will join the line-up in 2009. Prices for this bold contender start from just £26,995 for the 2.8 V6 and rise to just £32,995 for the 3.6 V6.
HONDA showed the world they could design gorgeous looking exciting sportscar that are also envoirmentally friendly. Named the OSM (for Open Study Model), the two-seater joins the confirmed-for-production CR-Z sports hybrid and FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell car on the Honda stand at the show.
The British International Motor Show 2008, sponsored by Zurich Connect, is finally here. The show features 23 global debuts and more than 50 models making their first European or UK appearance. In total, visitors will be able to see 600 cars on show from 60 manufacturers, worth a total of more than £37 million.
Bring the family too for there are plenty of attractions such as the Kids’ Driving School, the boat show in the dock and music in the evening.
Press day was busy as ever with some paying public allowed to ease the finances and in fairness, it created a better more exciting atmosphere. Here are a few showstoppers without giving the game away too much.
Hyundai launched a new range of cars – branded i-Blue - which will offer emissions below the crucial 120g/km barrier. Savings for owners could be substantial though, with the i-Blue falling into VED Group B, cutting the cost of an annual tax disc from £120 to £35. The first car in the range will be an i30 hatchback powered by the familiar and acclaimed 1.6-litre CRDi engine costing £13,155. It is business users who will see the really impressive savings. The new company car tax band for diesels producing less than 120g/km has dropped from 18 to just 13 percent, saving higher rate taxpayers hundreds every year.
The fastest ever Corvette - - makes its UK debut. This blistering super car, which will be sold in the UK in limited numbers, has a new supercharged 6.2 LS9 small-block V-8 engine with 647PS maximum power and 819Nm peak torque. 0-60 mph takes just 3.4 seconds, 0-100 mph in 7.0 seconds while top speed is 205 mph making the Corvette ZR1 the fastest Corvette ever produced. Ferrari Engineered by Officine Panerai shows a collection of high-end watches from the luxury Italian watch brand Officine Panerai and will be on display to the public for the first time at this year’s ‘Ultimate Collection’ at the ExCeL centre in Docklands.
Ferrari is showcasing its bespoke personality with a diverse array of exotic and individually tailored Ferrari cars on display in the Ultimate Collection and the Ultimate Collection Public Gallery. With unique examples of the 430 Scuderia, 599 GTB Fiorano and 612 Scaglietti on display, there will be a Ferrari to please every fan of the Prancing Horse
Saab’s much talked about concept cars, the Saab 9-4X BioPower and the Saab 9-X BioHybrid caused a stir and a signal of Saab’s commitment to expanding its product portfolio. Both concepts share distinctive Scandinavian styling themes and feature further developments in Saabs technological lead in combining turbocharging with Saab BioPower. Saab’s full UK model range will also be on display, including the most recent addition to the line-up, the 9-3 2.0T XWD with 210 hp.
Ambitious Spanish carmaker SEAT made a thrilling world debut with the stylish new Ibiza SportCoupé, which goes on sale here on 1st October. The car on display at ExCeL includes unique body-colour detailing on the steering wheel, gear knob, door panels, ventilation nozzles, dashboard softpad and the area surrounding the air vent located between the steering wheel and the door. The Ibiza SC on show also features attractive, sporty seats upholstered in a combination of leather and black Alcántara with double orange stitching – another one-off feature.
HUMMER showcased the HX Concept, a nimble, reconfigurable off-road concept vehicle. HX Concept provides vision of a FlexFuel, open-air HUMMER. It has a convertible body with removable roof panels, modular rear roof assembly, easily removable fender flares and doors, full-time 4WD with front and rear locking differentials, is aeronautically inspired interior with functional, lightweight design elements with a 3.6L direct-injected V-6 E85 FlexFuel engine with six-speed automatic transmission.