Making its European show debut in Geneva, the Nano transformed the normally empty Tata stand into one of the busiest at the show. While we were looking at the car, Giorgetto Giugiaro, Walter de' Silva and Henrik Fisker were scrutinizing the two cars on display.

Speaking with Tata's Head of Design, Pierre Castinel, CDN learned that the Nano existed before and that he only refined the design. "The target for me is first brand identity, linked with the quality, because quality is part of the brand. The target is to show that Tata meets the European standard in terms of quality. As you can see we're not so far from the target."

Almost all the car designers we spoke to were positive about the Nano, citing how amazing it was given its $2500 price point, or talking about its ‘cute' design character. But the first impression of the car in the flesh is that it looks like a smaller and rather poor imitation of a Mitsubishi i but sitting on tiny wheels - it has similar proportions, profile and DRG. For a car with such iconic potential this is a huge missed opportunity.

Production cost might be the reason that there are no concave surfaces at the front and rear (as there is on the Smart ForTwo and Mitsubishi i), which would have helped avoid its visually weak overhangs and square corners. But there were other design details that could have been better resolved, such as the crude slats at the base of the bumpers and the taillights that fight with the simple ovoid side graphic. Otherwise, Justin Norek' s design, is handsome and well resolved.

And the interior builds on this, notably with an innovative and attractive narrow center stack that integrates all of the Nano's few instruments and the HVAC system of the ‘Luxury' version (the ‘Basic' has no HVAC).

We feel confident that the Nano is the most important new car of 2008. But while its aesthetic is competent and far more advanced than previous Tatas, it is a shame that it will not make this iconic car an iconic design.

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New Car: Tata Nano

This is the fifth year of showing a concept model from the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) of Turin. This latest - the Maserati Chicane - is a very competent piece of work, displaying a degree of professionalism that wouldn't disgrace many OEM stands, yet the concept car was designed by two students of the 5th RSP Master in Transportation Design, Dmytro Zyubyairov and Oscar Palladino.

In essence, the Chicane is a rebodied Alfa Romeo 8C with a 2+2 layout. At 4400mm, it's 400mm shorter than a Gran Turismo GT and it retains a lot of Alfa 8C character in the design, especially around the rear haunch. Shown here as a milled hard model, the side view is characterized by three Maserati portholes in the doors (rather than the fender as on the Gran Turismo) and a light creaseline that runs forward from the door handle, then loops back on itself. Interestingly, this line is similar to the new ‘blade' motif promoted by GM on the Meriva and GTC concepts, except this is a positive section rather than negative.

The front end is the best part. There's a lovely integration of the lean-forward nose, where the edges of the grille snout continue into two vertical slots carved out of the front fender forward of the wheels. Upper and lower branches of the fender grow outwards to meet the wheelarch. Nestled high-up in these slots are the headlamps and an accompanying white ‘swiggle' LED motif. Against this fresh sculpture, the grille itself is a bit basic and unfinished, with its flush horizontal slats finished in gray. A similar dark gray color is used on the OZ 5-spoke wheels, which are a development of the current Trident design on the GranTurismo GT.

Hyundai's HED-5 ‘i-Mode' six-seat MPV appears large in person and features certain polarizing features, which seem to mix three concepts into one. Convex and concave surfaces combine with a wedged side profile and a rounded front and rear, to give the appearance of a bow under pressure. But one of the most intriguing aspects are the negatively arching 'A and a half'-pillar and C-pillars, emphasized by almond shaped quarter-lights. There seems to be a conscious attempt not to follow usual conventions, attempting instead to define unique formal identifiers.

Successful elements included the main A-pillar, which integrates neatly into the roofline before sloping backward to the C-pillar and coming back on itself. This is reminiscent of the cantrail treatment of the new Volvo XC60, and the way this relates to the boomerang taillight graphic (which echos the grille mesh aesthetic) is the cleanest and least controversial aspect of the design.

Interior designer Eric Yann Coulouvrat explained how a different interpretation of the Mercedes F-700 concept interior was used for the front passenger seat, which slides and swivels to face rearwards. Streams of blue light-lines give an impression of luxury and become brighter at points where they converge, flowing across the inner door panels. This theme, which continued into the instrument panel where light spilling from cut-away perspex sections lit the instruments, strained at being overly detailed.

The ‘i-Mode' concept marks the second time Hyundai has collaborated with specialist suppliers. Bayer Material Science AG developed materials that are lighter than the glass and metal they replace; LG electronics enabled an array of multimedia connectivity - such as a voiceover IP communication system developed by LG which enabled Coulouvrat to call his colleague and exterior designer, Thomas Salzle, through Skype from the car - and Keiper engineering developed the unique Swivel Seat system. Unfortunately the design seems to have taken Hyundai backwards in its progression (especially compared to the Qarmaq) being a mix-mash of various previous concepts from the Korean firm.

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Hyundai HED-4 Qarmaq concept - Geneva 2007