What's the news?
Famously Volkswagen has traditionally ruled the pre-Geneva sausage-fest by throwing the most extravagant preview event the night before the Palexpo doors open for the show proper. That's changed. Yes, there were seven cars there, some as significant as the new Bugatti Chiron, but they were somewhat apologetically hidden away until after some lengthy speeches about Volkswagen solving its diesel problem - that'll be done this year - and where it plans to go next.
Exterior
As an outside looking in Volkswagen's resolve that the diesel issue is, from later 2016 at least, behind it and it's looking towards a new future is sensible. Car firms aren't unknown to make bold proclamations as to future plans, but VW's assertions that it's 2025 strategy, where Volkswagen plans to shape the future of mobility and e-mobility go further than merely adding some hybrid and autonomy to the line up, look very ambitious indeed. Listening to the statements from speakers including Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Muller and Johann Jungwirth, CDO Volkswagen Group suggesting a future where we're driven in fully autonomous cars, the cities in which we live in will change dramatically as a result, Volkswagen being more of a technology and mobility company that what we might consider a traditional car firm. Jungwirth states: "we'll develop Volkswagen Group from a car maker to a mobility provider," and that: "Volkswagen will become a software and services group."
Interior
We're all realists here, and while we the automotive industry must indeed embrace change, the statements from Volkswagen's pre-show event seemed incredibly sweeping, and short of actual substance. Yes, it's adding three development and design centres to work on future vehicles, but watching the various internal staff group heads shuffle uncomfortably and even smirk unbelievingly at the comments being boldly stated it did rather underline some dissent in the ranks. The need for help with infrastructure was announced without any plans or strategy, while the somewhat utopian idea of car-free city streets served by pod-like, group branded, autonomous vehicles was difficult to believe.
Mechanicals
Electrification is here to stay, and grow, while autonomy is upon us, albeit stifled by legislative hurdles that'll need years, if not decades of work to get around. The mechanicals of Volkswagen's apparent drive to a revolutionary transformation is, on the face of it, based on conjecture and hope, insomuch as it'll need a huge paradigm shift in transportation. It's not unrealistic to expect that to happen, but it'll be decades - multiples of - rather than the mere years Volkswagen speaks of.
Anything else?
There were some cars there, not that anyone was talking about them... Which is odd, from a car firm.