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PERHAPS the biggest irony of the Geneva Motor Show, which I visited last week, was that proceedings were overshadowed by a story that didn’t involve any of the star cars on the stands – and this year there were plenty, proving yet again that the industry is in pretty rude health. The purchase of Vauxhall and Opel by PSA, the maker of Peugeots, Citroens and DS models, dominated conversations, as you might expect. And the brands involved were certainly talking a good game. Karl-Thomas Neumann, boss of Opel, said the deal was an opportunity to create a “true European champion” and pledged that Vauxhall would remain a “true British brand” (and Opel a true German one, of course). His counterpart at Peugeot, Jean-Philippe Imparato, told me: “I think it will…

▪ On the road in Jaguar’s priceless electric crossover concept ▪ Smaller than an F-Pace, set to undercut Tesla; due in 2018 @LobAllan OFFICIAL Jaguar’s own picture of the production car in development testing shows little is going to change from the concept INTERIOR Low-slung driving position means I-Pace feels more like a car than an SUV to drive, while large glass area gives an excellent view of your surroundings PRACTICALITY With a wheelbase longer than an XF’s, the I-Pace has plenty of cabin space in the back, and the boot is a generous 530 litres, too THE Jaguar I-Pace is one of the most important vehicles to emerge from the British car maker in its 80-year history. With Tesla and BMW’s ‘i’ range in its sights, the striking EV…

@johnmcilroy EXCLUSIVE IMAGES “New508 should get amore swooping, coupé-like roofline that prioritises looks over space in the rear” PEUGEOT is planning a more stylefocused new generation of its 508, due in 2018 as a rival to everything from the BMW 3 Series to the Vauxhall Insignia and Volkswagen’s newly launched Arteon. Sales of ‘D-segment’ saloons such as the 508, Insignia and Ford Mondeo have suffered in the past decade, thanks to the increasing popularity of SUVs and premium brands such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes offering more mainstream pricing on their models. Peugeot’s sister brand Citroen is said to be completely abandoning the saloon format – at least for European customers – and will launch a C5 Aircross crossover (right) later this year instead. Peugeot insists it needs to maintain…

@jimmybrods VOLKSWAGEN pulled the wraps off its hi-tech vision for a fully autonomous, self-driving pod at last week’s Geneva Motor Show. Called the Sedric, the concept hints at the entire VW Group’s autonomous future across its various marques. Bosses call it a “cross-brand ideas platform”, but it’s likely to form a part of VW’s new MOIA mobility brand, established last year. The name is short for Self-Driving Car, and the Sedric features five lidar scanners, seven cameras and a number of additional sensors. All this makes the car a Level 5 autonomous vehicle – meaning it can drive itself completely independently. It’s operated via a OneButton key, pressed by the operator to summon the vehicle. Information is fed back about its time of arrival, and once occupants are on board,…

AUDI’S plans to launch three fully-electric cars by 2020 are taking shape – and the company’s CEO Rupert Stadler has revealed more about the models we can expect. “We decided to go the SUV way,” Stadler told Auto Express. “Even though the architecture is a little more difficult because you don’t have the perfect aerodynamics, people love to sit in an SUV – and we have to respect the growing trend of SUV segments. I think this was two or three years ago absolutely the right decision.” Audi’s battery-electric SUV was previewed by the Q6 e-tron (right), towards the end of 2015. Although the shape of the car has been fixed, the name hasn’t. It will definitely wear an e-tron badge, but isn’t likely to be called Q6. Following on…

SEAT’S SUV range will soon grow beyond the new Ateca mid-size SUV and the soonto- be-launched Arona crossover, with the brand’s own version of the large Skoda Kodiaq. Auto Express understands that the new car will be confirmed for production before the end of this month. At the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, SEAT revealed its 20V20 SUV concept (right), and boss Luca de Meo has admitted that a bigger car is on track to reach dealerships before the end of the decade. Asked if he would like to do a version of the Kodiaq, de Meo replied: “I can’t say today, but we are working on it. We see opportunities; we’re looking at the business case and vision of the product.” He added: “20V20 was not just something we did…