BMW, Mercedes, VW, Audi Will Be No-Shows At Geneva 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in chaos throughout the car industry, causing production holdups that in some cases are only now being shaken off. But one of the parties hardest hit was the Geneva Auto Show, which was cancelled days before the 2020 event was due to open and with the halls already full of cars.

The show, which recently turned up in Qatar, hasn’t been held in its traditional Swiss home since 2019, and now the 2024 comeback event planned for Europe has been hit with the news that at least four major automakers won’t be attending. BMW and Mercedes have both decided to stay away, according to a report in Automobilwoche, and given that Stellantis has just bailed on CES in Vegas, it’s possible that its team of brands might also not want to invest millions to be there.

Audi and the VW brand will also be no-shows at the Palexpo convention center next February and March, but reps from Skoda, Cupra and Porsche told Automobilwoche’s reporters that they had yet to make a concrete decision regarding attendance, though it was unlikely that they’d be there.

Geneva was always the best of the traditional European shows for a number of reasons. One, it was right next to the airport, and two, it was really compact, consisting of just two main halls next to each other, meaning you could see everything without walking miles backwards and forwards and keeling over and dying (no joke, it happened to one journalist at Frankfurt).

Related: Get A Look Inside The Canceled Geneva Motor Show And Its Depressing State

Automakers had already been cooling on motor shows in general before the pandemic, but the forced absence has made it harder for them to recover to full strength. As one senior marketing suit at a supercar company put it to me a few years back when explaining why it wasn’t going to appear at the doomed 2020 Geneva expo, “Why would I spend a million dollars to build a motor show stand when I could spend that money making a really cool viral video and push it out on social media?”

The reality is that car companies no longer need to be at motor shows to connect with people, and people no longer need to visit shows to see a car that will only be a static exhibit anyway. The shows that will survive and thrive are living, breathing spectacles like Goodwood that mix everything that was good about a trad auto show with the thrill of seeing and hearing (though now only sometimes…) some great cars in action.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean Geneva is doomed. Organizers are busy trying to entice China’s car companies to attend and since those same companies are desperate to establish themselves in the European market, they might be happy to fill the void left by the likes of BMW, Audi, Mercedes and VW.

Source: Automobilwoche, via Auto News

Entop Simurgh Is An Afghan “Supercar” With Le Mans Dreams And A…2004 Corolla Engine

Entop is back again with its Afghanastanian supercar, now rebranded as the Simurgh. The company’s CEO, Mohammad Reza Ahmadi, who also has the role of designer and chief engineer, unveiled the car at the 2023 Geneva International Auto Show’s Doha branch, making some bold claims.

While he didn’t disclose any information about specifications, power output, or performance targets, he did say that the team wants to race at Le Mans before selling the previously named Mada9 supercar to the public.

The startup popped up in the news at the beginning of this year when it announced the Mada9, what it called their prototype at the time, the world’s first Afghan supercar. Ahmadi had stated that the car would be ready in a mere two weeks but, once more, didn’t reveal any specific specifications. Eagle-eyed automotive enthusiasts noted that the Mada9 appeared to use the same Toyota 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine found in a 2004 Corolla sedan. However, Entop reportedly said that the engine had been modified.

More: The Top 5 Cars You Wish Were Real And Made It Into Production

Photos GIMS

Now, nearly 10 full months later, Ahmadi showed up at the capital of Quatar with no mention of the Mada9 and a car that looks identical but now features the name Simurgh. “I want to build something to put my country on the map again,” he said in an interview at the Doha show. “The Simurgh represents the heroes and art of Afghanistan.”

Don’t take Entop’s presence at the Doha branch of the Geneva Motor Show as lending toward its credibility though. According to Bloomberg, the hopeful automaker paid for the space and crowd-sourced the $130,000 in funds to make it there. Now, before announcing any sort of detail about its chassis, features, specifications, or production schedule, Ahmadi says his team wants to go racing at Le Mans.

He’s hoping to raise $43.2 million to finish the development of the Simurgh and enter it into the historic 24-hour race. “We plan to start sales after the Simurgh has been through Le Mans, where it can be tested and prove itself,” said Mr Ahmadi. While the likelihood of that happening appears to be incredibly slim, it certainly would be impressive.

As we mentioned in our first piece on Entop, the Mada9 and now the Simurgh both benefit from being real physical creations. That’s a lot more than one could say for the numerous companies that create renders in the hope of gathering funds before building a single car. Still, the fact that the Simurgh features an unfinished interior and questionable build quality has us wondering if it’s already peaked.