Geneva hits and misses

Back home after the busiest Geneva Motor Show I can ever remember. Some amazing new metal – both production and concept – in the two halls, so here’s my pick. In a totally bonkers way, the convertible version of the Lamborghini Aventador was truly astonishing. Ford’s B-MAX was a popular attraction, and with the lack of a B-pillar it’s easy to see why. It’s very practical, and makes the Vauxhall Meriva’s rear-hinged door look clumsey, especially for getting kids in and out. The Jaguar XF Sportbrake was a welcome sight, and talking of estates, the wagon versions of the Kia Cee’d, Hyundai i30 and Chevrolet Cruze are all heading for showrooms soon and will find buyers. The Range Rover Evoque cabrio was very striking, and I’ve no doubt that car will get built. Ferrari’s most powerful road car ever, the F12 Berlinetta, is a stunner, but I suppose my star of the show was the Nissan Invitation (pictured). It’s a really smartly styled supermini, won’t affect Micra sales as they’re aimed at different customers, and as the firm used Geneva to announce it’s being built at Sunderland, it’s good UK plc story as well. Disappointments? Main one was the Fiat 500L. I think the proportions of the brand’s first four-door car are all wrong. It’s not a 500, it’s a larger car with a 500 nose grafted on. It’s right to try to cash in on the 500’s success, but I don’t think that’s the car to do it. General consensus was the Bentley 4x4 was a bit of an eyesore and would have Mr B redlining the revs in his grave. It's a big old beast and not massively pretty as Bentleys should be, but I'm not sure I'd call it a miss. The firm will built it and it will sell, mostly to people with more money than taste.