The Next Frontier: The Geneva Motor Show

Once a year, the neutral territory of Switzerland provides the perfect glimpse into the future of the automotive world. The Geneva Motor show is a must-attend event, which helps you (as the cover of this issue says) ‘spot trends and catch clues to the future.’ The best part is that it does this in a reasonably manageable setting – which is to say that this microcosm of the automotive universe is under a single roof with just one escalator separating the two halves of what is essentially one big hall that hosts everything from Porsche & Hyundai at one end, to Ferrari & Chrysler at the other – with everything from Pagani to Tata positioned strategically in between to provide the perfect automotive assault on your senses. And since the show stands themselves don’t leave you awe struck like they do in Frankfurt, for instance, you tend to focus more on the actual products and their resulting innovations – rather than being left speechless by the most outlandish expression of an automakers marketing budget. It’s almost like being served future automotive technologies in hors d’oeuvre sized helpings. And this year, a few of those delicacies stood out. At a macro level, it’s clear that the connected car is the next frontier. And to that end – since Apple has already taken over your home and office – it now has its sights firmly set on the cabin of your car. CarPlay, which can already be found in the all-new Mercedes-Benz C Class, seamlessly integrates iOS7.1 into the car’s infotainment system. As Apple shakes up the in-car ecosystem, the fallout will certainly be felt by the likes of Microsoft, Blackberry, and Google – in regards to what it means for their own platforms of course, but, perhaps more importantly, for the ones they’re custom building for different OEM’s. Ford, for instance, is rumoured to be moving to a Blackberry architecture (from Microsoft) for their next version of Sync. At the Volkswagen Group Night, the evening before the start of the Geneva Motor Show, Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of VW AG, announced that vehicles would soon become mobile computers – and, to that end, the best minds at VW will be working closely with Google to help find new-age solutions to the challenges facing the industry. And these challenges appear more daunting than ever before – but the solutions must be quick and painless. The instant gratification generation wouldn’t have it any other way…