Petrol-mad motor show shuns the future The promoters of the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney like to claim that it is now a world-class automotive exhibition but, in 2007, the Sydney Motor Show overpromised and underdelivered. The world’s car industry is now focussed on developing technology for the late and post fossil fuel era.

This year’s two mega motor shows – Frankfurt and Tokyo – gave us a clear look at the big picture which, at present, is optimising the efficiency of petrol and diesel engines in tandem with the parallel development of hybrids and fuel cells. Many examples of the types of cars which will house these drivetrains were on display.

If you went to Sydney’s Darling Harbour hoping to get an understanding of tomorrow’s green car technology you would have been sorely disappointed. Instead, Sydney was a ‘fill ’er up and to hell with the consequences’ horsepower-fest.

You could have been forgiven for thinking that the four local manufacturers have never heard of climate change and are sitting on oil reserves that will sustain Australia for the next 1000 years.    

Mitsubishi unveiled the latest version of the doof doof brigade’s hero car, the Lancer Evolution X. This rally-bred beastie is, no doubt, a beautiful thing on the track, but drive it as Mitsubishi intended and it will use fuel like a 4WD.

Speaking of which, Toyota gave the new 200-series LandCruiser its world premiere in Sydney – fitting, given that Australia is the single biggest market for the ’Cruiser. Most are sold as work and/or remote-area vehicles because that’s what the ’Cruiser does best. But in the context of everyday driving, and the new generation of SUVs, the big Toyota is a dinosaur.

Toyota is at the forefront of alternative energy technology, but if you wanted to see what it has in store for us you had to go to Tokyo where it had eight cars of the future displayed under the theme ‘Harmonious Drive – A New Tomorrow for People and the Planet’.

Holden couldn’t come up with its traditional showstopper this year – previous efforts have included the wild Efijy concept – so it was back to the future with big, heavy cars powered by big, thirsty engines, including the new VE Commodore wagon, the ute and the HSV hotrod, the Maloo.

Oh, and we shouldn’t forget that paragon of environmental responsibility from another GM subsidiary – the Hummer, which actually made its first Sydney appearance in 2006.

The best Ford Australia could serve up was a throwback to a 1970s Bathurst winner, the FPV Falcon Cobra, complete with a set of body stripes – phwoar! – and a 302kW, 5.4-litre V8 with a prodigious (as in 20-litres/100km in town) thirst.

It also showed an equally feral version of the Territory SUV, the high-performance F6X with a 270kW turbocharged 4.0-litre six-cylinder engine.

All great fun, of course, but a significant vehicle? Hardly. What Ford Australia and the Territory need – and what buyers want – is a torquey, economical diesel.

Lest you think we’re being a bit hard on the locals, the importers were hardly any better in their approach to Sydney. Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Fiat, Jaguar, Mini, Rolls Royce and Proton didn’t even bother to show up.

The two glamorous performance drawcards – Ferrari’s F430 Scuderia and the Lamborghini Reventon – didn’t arrive.  Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Saab and Volkswagen, who usually pull out all the stops to demonstrate their environmental credentials, also went for a quick, easy fix in Sydney. BMW at least gave us a look at where its controversial styling is heading – albeit in a gas-guzzling format – with the wicked-looking Concept CS sedan and Concept X6 coupe.

Still, while Sydney, in technology terms, was an insight-free zone in 2007, it did fulfil the other major function of motor shows which is to sell cars. If you visited the Show to kick a few tyres and decide on your next new car, you would have found more than 400 models on display.

That’s the beauty of motor shows. They can be equally inspiring for dreamers and petrolheads, or those of us simply wanting to buy a new car. But if Sydney wants to live up to its self-proclaimed world-class status in future, it needs to get serious about showing us what the future holds.

By Bill Mckinnon.