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Other notable trends in Geneva related to the more sophisticated designs coming from China, Russia, India and South Korea evident in the Brilliance BS6, Lada C concept, Tata Elegante concept and Kia Cee'd Cabriolet - all four of these brands having recently adopted new ways to elevate their standing in the European market through design.
Of all the emergent exterior design trends the strongest the CDN team saw was the low set inverted trapezoidal grille. GM Europe made much of their 'new' face with the Opel GTC concept, but it bears striking similarity to that of the new 'Kinetic Design' Ford direction, as does the Renault Twingo in grille graphic. The Mercedes C-Class and Nissan X-Trail have more vestigial versions of this lower grille shape, whilst the single large grille for the Audi A5, Dodge Demon, HED-4 Qarmaq and Bertone Fiat Barchetta are prominent inverted trapezoids...
Other smaller design trends we picked up on include the strong round instrument cowls (HED-4 Qarmaq, Opel GTC, Fiat Bravo, Renault Grand Tour, Citroen C-Crosser / Peugeot 4007), use of white (HED-4 Qarmaq, Rolls Royce 101EX, Hyundai i30, Mercedes C-Class, Audi A5, Maserati GranTurismo) and the red tail light block with white lamp insert and strong angled edge (Ford Mondeo, Maserati GranTurismo, Audi A5, BMW 3 Series coupe, Citroen C4 Picasso).
Walking away from the Geneva show this year it was the overall conservative flavour of so many of the significant new production designs that was the impression that stayed with us longest. Although offset to some extent by the fresh niche car designs also at the show, Geneva 2007 might well end up being remembered as the show where European car design caught a cold - even if the weather was warm...
Related Stories:
Geneva Motor Show 2007 index
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