Geneva Motor Show highlights

Vehicles on display at the event, held in early March, ranged from the bizarre to the functional.

Switzerland may not be renowned for its automotive manufacturing capability, but it is for the quality and interest of its international motor show, held annually in Geneva. It never fails to present bold concepts together with newly launched production cars, which add up to a high level of glitz and glamour. This year was no exception, and its exhibits spanned the bizarre and exotic to the pragmatic and purely functional. But as ever, it demonstrated the virtuosity of the automotive industry's engineers and designers.

It was the Bertone-SKF Filo concept that epitomized the Geneva Motor Show: a bold combination of fresh design and advanced engineering that mixes controversial systems applications with common-sense solutions to packaging challenges. Created by Stile Bertone, the Filo uses drive-by-wire technology engineered by SKF. It makes extensive use of mechatronics (mechanical systems under intelligent, electronic control) and questions the use of traditional steering wheel, pedals, and dashboard. The two companies see the Filo as a possible production vehicle “a couple of model generations from now.”