Renault, Dacia share spotlight with China's BYD, MG at 2024 Geneva show

The 2024 Geneva auto show was significantly smaller than in years past, but the automakers that chose to attend unveiled key products, led by the Renault 5 small EV and two launches from China’s SAIC, the MG3 small car and the L6 sedan from SAIC's new premium brand, IM.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Geneva show was neutral ground for Europe’s automakers large and small, but this year German brands Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen skipped the event. Asian brands including Toyota and Hyundai were also not at the show the show, which was being revived after a four-year absence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Only nine major brands took part in the show -- Renault, Dacia, BYD and its subbrands Denza and Yangweng, Lucid, MG and new SAIC brand IM, along with Italian design house Pininfarina.

Here are some key debuts from the show, which was held from Feb. 26 to March 3.

China’s largest EV brand is making a major push in Europe. BYD's Atto 3 is Europe's top-selling full-electric compact SUV. In Geneva, BYD unveiled its first plug-in hybrid model for Europe, the Seal U DM-i, which it said will go on sale in the region in the second quarter.

BYD also exhibited the Yangweng U8 plug-in hybrid large SUV and Denza's N7 full-electric midsize crossover and D9 large minivan.

BYD has said it will launch Denza in Europe this year. It said the Yangweng U8 will go on a European tour this year but did not specify a market launch date.

Renault Group’s Romanian brand has long offered Europe’s cheapest cars, but it is moving its lineup slightly upmarket and focusing on value for money rather than rock-bottom prices. But Dacia still knows how to build inexpensive, appealing cars, notably the Spring, a full-electric minicar produced in China that was Europe’s No. 8-selling EV last year, with nearly 60,000 registrations.

In Geneva, Dacia showed the face-lifted Spring, including a revised interior.

The new-generation Duster small SUV was seen in public for the first time at the show and Dacia also exhibited a prototype of its Dakar rally-raid contender, the Sandrider.

The U.S. EV maker, founded by Peter Rawlinson, a former CTO at Tesla, has gone after high-end customers with its Air sedan. Lucid had its European show debut in Geneva, displaying the delayed Gravity SUV and two variants of the Air sedan.

The Air Pure is a rear-wheel-drive variant of the Air; it will start at about €85,000 in Europe, Rawlinson said at the show on Monday. The Sapphire is the high-performance version of the Air, with three electric motors and a 0-100 kph (0-62 mph) time of 2 seconds, at €230,000. Lucid said it will open four new sales points in Germany this year, in addition to the six it now has in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.

SAIC’s MG brand has been a hit with European buyers, with its inexpensive EVs and internal-combustion small and compact cars that have undercut domestic brands. MG debuted the new-generation MG3 small hatchback, which will be sold in all the brand's European markets, expanding out of the U.K. The new model switches to a full hybrid powertrain, rather than a mild-hybrid engine.

SAIC also launched its new IM premium EV brand. IM stands for Intelligent Mobility. Among the brand's Geneva exhibits is the L6 electric sedan, which has a range of up to 800 km and a 0-100 kph (0-62 mph) acceleration time of under three seconds.

Pininfarina unveiled its Enigma GT concept, a 2+2 seat model with a high performance mid-rear engine layout. The Enigma's dimensions are inspired by the search for compactness with a relatively long wheelbase enabling interior roominess. The all-wheel-drive concept has a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine driving the rear wheels, coupled with an electric motor at the front axle.

The show offered a huge platform for Renault, which revealed its highly anticipated Renault 5 small EV. The “retrofuturistic” R5 will compete with potential competitors from China, at a starting price of less than €25,000.

The Renault 5 will come with two battery sizes and up to 400 km (250 miles) range, with three power levels. It is built on the AmpR Small platform, which helps cut costs by borrowing non-EV components such as the front suspension from the Renault-Nissan CMF-B platform.

The platform offers a long wheelbase (2540 mm) relative to the Renault 5’s length of 3920 mm, as well as a flat floor, a low center of gravity and reduced weight (less than 1,350 kg for the 40-kWh version).

It is 130 mm shorter than the Clio small hatchback and 300 mm longer than the current Twingo EV. The next-generation Twingo EV model is expected after 2025, with a base price of less than €20,000. 

The Renault 5 will initially be available with a 52-kilowatt-hour liquid-cooled battery pack, with a 40-kWh version with 300 km range offered later. 

Power output will be 70 or 90 kW (95 or 120 hp) with the 40 kWh battery, or 110 kW (150 hp) with the 52-kWh battery. The motor is 15 kg lighter than similar units in the compact Megane and Scenic E-Tech, with integrated components to save space, Renault says.