International Auto Show - Buenos Aires 2007

International Auto Show Buenos Aires 2007

With a well-appointed press room and very good organization, at 8:00 AM the arrival of journalists from all over the country and some foreign visitors began.

The first conference took place at 9:00am at the Scania stand, a brand that announced its great production growth. Its representatives explained that given the huge increase in demand for trucks in the world market, Scania Argentina will increase its production of units at the Córdoba plant in the next two years. They also took the opportunity to present their limited version truck called “Silver”.

Mercedes Trucks then displayed the figures that make it dominant in the local market and announced its immediate plans for the supply of products.

One of the most inviting conferences was that of Toyota. With an excellently presented stand and a beautiful music and dance show to present the new Toyota Avensis, it all started with its executives highlighting Toyota's achievements over the past 10 years in the region.

View photos and special report on the Toyota conference

As we moved between the stands to attend the conferences, we observed the presence of prominent figures in the world of car design, such as the Argentines Gustavo Fosco (Renault) and Jorge Ferreyra-Basso (Opel).

The General Motors stand featured its most iconic vehicles: the Corvette Z06, Camaro Concept 2009 and Concept Sequel, a futuristic project that eliminates dependence on oil as fuel. On this prototype the company refers to as the “reinvention of the car”. Other attractions included the Chevrolet Captiva SUV, the Groove concept and the Astra TC2000 champion.

View photos and special report on the General Motors stand

Continuing with the novelties, Ford presented many advances such as the Focus Cabriolet, the new Mondeo, the wide S-Max and the giant Super Chiefconcept.

Ford executives focused mainly on the positioning of their products in the market and the attempt to recover the lost ground in the field of vehicles for the field, especially the pick up F100 and the Ranger.

View photos and special report on the Ford Motor Company stand

Another mass dealer of cars stood out - Fiat. His presentation was impeccable, wearing market innovations such as the new Siena, Palio, Panda Cross and prototypes such as the Fiat Concept Car Adventure.

View photos and special report on the Fiat stand

Nissan's general manager, Carlos Sucasas, explained that this brand is strongly committed to changing the image of its extensive network of dealers throughout the country.

Currently, Nissan's main market in Argentina is utility and off-road vehicles. The products offered are the Frontier, Xtrail, Pathfinder and the next generation of SUV called Xterra. As an extra appeal they exhibited the Nissan Tiida.

Renault, always faithful to its innovative style, looked as a distinctive appeal the Altica concept. Also presented were all the new models to be marketed: the Megane in its various versions, the new Renault Laguna and the latest project in the region, the Logan manufactured in Brazil. The latter project was highlighted with great enthusiasm, highlighting the millions of investment figures and the creation of sources of work.

View photos and special report on the Renault stand

Chrysler "s turn was interesting for combining the best of its three divisions: Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. Chrysler analyzes the possible insertion into the local market of the 300C HEMI Touring, while showing cars such as Crossfire Roadster, Grand Caravan Limited, PT Cruiser Cabrio GT Turbo and 300 C HEMI and Touring.

Dodge its powerful pick up SLT RAM and Laramie RAM well sold in the Argentine market. Only as an exhibition for these latitudes, Durango (SUV) and Caliber RT (crossover) models were shown.

Meanwhile Jeep presented three variants of the successful Cherokee: Grand Cherokee SRT8, Grand Cherokee Overland and Cherokee Limited. Other products shown were the Compass (Limited and Rallye versions) and the new Wrangler Sport 2-door and Wrangler Unlimited 4-door.

The Wrangler Unlimited 4-door Ultimate presents itself as a great innovation, bringing all the offroad virtues of the classic Jeep to a 4-door vehicle. Surely among his goals is to rival the Hummer.

Mercedes Benz showed their cars in an elegant stand, delimiting each product range with a different type of floor. The sports section with printed sheet metal, the elegant in imitation wood, the sport in grey. In the first sector you could see a Mercedes SLK 55 AMG, then the different versions of the new C line, a beautiful Mercedes CLS and finally the new R-Class.

The Volkswagen conference was very emotional on the part of its executives because of the enthusiasm in the presentation of the national Suran diesel. They exhibited a lot of vehicles, highlighting the capacity of the brand that meritoriously managed to position itself successfully in different market segments with products such as Gol, Fox, Suran, Vento and Passat.

The great novelty was the new Golf, although there was a lot of prominence for a new product that renews the expectations of the brand: the Eos. The new Volkswagen Eos is a coupe cabriolet that changes from one mode to another in just 25 seconds, thanks to its CSC system developed especially for this model.

Very lively was undoubtedly the Citroën conference, where the Director of Citroën Argentina, Jean-Cristophe Muñoz, reported on the plans of the brand and then shared his minutes with singer Diego Torres (godfather of the C4) and actress Araceli González (godmother of the C4), who will be part of the graphic campaign of the car.

See photos and special report on the Citroën stand

Perhaps the most outstanding touches of distinction of the Salon were those provided by Peugeot and Audi. Peugeot reported on all its products on the market, present on the stand and showed the striking 907 concept, to culminate with a more than fabulous music and dance show.

For its part, Audi offered champagne glasses to celebrate the presentation of the new Audi S5, which, although it did not reach the local market, is a milestone in the present German brand. Among the other cars presented at the stand were the sedans A4 and A8 plus the small A3 and as a special touch, the second generation of the Audi TT, in its coupe and cabriolet versions.

Subaru introduced its new SUV called Tribeca, which will be available in versions for 5 and 7 passengers.

The elegant Porsche sector featured a Cayman as the main novelty for these latitudes. The other two vehicles shown were a GT3 and the Cayenne SUV.

While BMW also incorporated Mini firms, which enjoy great success, and a special cabin where a Rolls Royce was shown.

Finally, Honda had a great stand with all its products, the most popular in Argentina such as the renovated Civic, the already known and consecrated Fit plus the Accord sedan, of large dimensions and performance.

The Honda Legend and Civic TC 2000 were excellent accessories. While the large platform in the center of the stand did not house a car, but the spectacular “humanoid” robot Asimo developed by the Japanese brand.

It remains simply to note that the organization of the event was excellent, giving a very good treatment to the press and providing us with all the necessary elements. Exhibitors also collaborated, respecting with great precision the start and end times of each conference. This edition of the Motor Show in Buenos Aires will be even more than fans could expect.

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© Adrián Blanco 2007 - No full or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —