SEAN-THE-MAN.blogspot.com: Singapore MotorShow 2006

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Singapore MotorShow 2006 - The Review & the Cars

Following up from the previous blog Singapore MotorShow 2006 - The Girls, here's the review of the whole event along with some selected photos of interesting exhibits.

I was expecting... no, maybe that's too strong a word... I was hoping that the Singapore Motorshow would be along the lines of the Tokyo, Paris, Frankfurt or Detroit Motorshows, where the auto manufacturers would come out in force to offer a glimpse into the future and their upcoming offerings. A smorgasbord of sneak peeks, prototypes and unveilings. And why not, I figured? Though Singapore has a tiny car market, it was the regional HQ for most, if not all the major car manufacturers.

So with bright eyes and a bushy tail, I waltzed over to Suntec Convention Center on Saturday 18 November hoping to see Nissan Skyline GTR R35 or Mitsubishi Evolution X prototypes, new Mercedes AMGs, BMW M-Power'ed saloons, Audi RSes, Toyota NSX, Renault turbos, Peugeot GTis, Volkwagens with Dual Clutch gearboxes or W12 engines... Maybe even exotics like the 1000hp Bugatti Veyron... in short, I was hoping for an early Christmas for car enthusiasts.

But sadly, there was no Christmas in sight, despite the extensive festive decorations in the shopping mall. As far as the car manufacturers and motorshow organisers were concerned, it was definitely still DeepaRaya in Singapore. Santa Claus was MIA (Missing In Action) somewhere over Batam or the Straits of Johore.

There was no Mitsubishi... WTF???, no Frenchies (Peugeot, Renault nor Citroen), no Germans (no Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi nor VW), no Swedes (Volvo, Saab), no Exotics besides Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini with a measly couple of cars each, which we weren't allowed near anyway, (no Porsche) and no Yanks except for a few models from Chrysler.

This was definitely not a global motorshow by any standard. Virtually all the top car makers were missing except FIAT group and the ones from Japan/Korea. Subaru was easily the largest exhibitor on the day and the imbalance was accentuated by the conspicuous absence of traditional rival, Mitsubishi. Toyota + Lexus put in good efforts, as did Fiat with showings from its stable of Fiat, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Maserati. Honda was surprisingly bland. Not one Type R of any sort. There was a strong Hyundai/Kia presence, as well as less regarded new world brands like Geely, Skoda and the Malaysians (Proton was a no-show though).

There were few prototypes. No first looks at all into 2007's lineup, except for maybe Subaru which showed the new WRXs, Legacy and Alfa Romeo. All in all, a disappointing experience, providing no insight whatsoever into the future direction of the global automobile market.

Enjoy:
Toyota Fine-S
Suzuki Swift Sport
Suzuki SX4
Suzuki SX4 WRC
Suzuki Swift JWRC
Suzuki Swift JWRC
Suzuki Swift JWRC
Suzuki Swift JWRC
Suzuki Swift JWRC
Suzuki Swift JWRC
Subaru WRC
Subaru WRC
Subaru WRC
Prodrive Booth
Prodrive P2
Prodrive P2
Prodrive P2
Prodrive P2
Prodrive P2