It's hard to compete with a Spanish royal wedding but that was the task facing the organisers of Madrid's international auto show last week. Our brief visit to the Spanish capital suggested that they were coping admirably but then motor shows have been held much more frequently, starting in May 1907.
That almost coincides with the last royal nuptials in Spain. The show of 1907 featured one hundred makes, King Alfonso XIII did the opening and the big talking point was the Spain's automotive flagship, the Hispano Suiza which was making its debut.
King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia took time off from the wedding preparations of their son and heir to declare the show open on Wednesday evening. As European motor shows go, it's user friendly with not too much walking: 10 giant exhibition halls are clustered around a central colonnade that also includes real live muddy 4x4 driving terrain.
Madrid still isn't in the top European motor show league but it's trying hard, reflecting also Spain's importance and influence in the automotive scene. It's the sixth biggest producer of cars and commercial vehicles in the world, while in the EU context it falls in behind Germany and France. Popular small cars like Opel's Corsa and Ford's Fiesta are Spanish-built, a fact which buyers in Ireland and the rest of Europe probably don't think too much about.
What then of the show? New or not-seen-before models weren't that numerous but one model that did have its world premiere at Madrid was the Renault Modus. Madrid stole a march on the British show at Birmingham this week where it is one of the major arrivals. Essentially Modus is a smaller MPV based on the Clio and a rung below the Scenic which of course, brought great riches to the French car maker, as a pioneer of MPV family motoring. It was presented as a concept at the Geneva show earlier this year.Compared with the Clio hatchback, it's seven inches taller and three inches wider. This time, though, it isn't a pioneer: vehicles like the Opel Meriva and the Fiat Idea are already established in the market.
It should be going on Irish sale in the autumn and there are five engines in the line-up, 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6 of the petrol variety as well as two 1.5 litre dCi diesels. The Modus sits on a chassis platform that is already doing service with the new Nissan Micra and will go into the new Clio next year.
Renault engineers clearly studied rivals like the Meriva in their development of the Modus. The rear seats as well as sliding fore and aft by over seven inch offering four positions, also adjust sideways, giving a two or three seat configuration in an instant. The split opening tailgate lets you choose whether to raise it fully or use only the lower half, the benefit being that the boot is accessible in all circumstances, even when space is very restricted. You can also use the smaller opening to load hand luggage or a bag of shopping Options include a specially designed bike rack that will fold away into the boot, whatever the position of the rear bench seat.
Renault chairman Louis Schweitzer was on hand in Madrid to unveil Modus and he did it with plenty of hype. It is "a small car with a big heart" and "an endearing car with a winning smile." He claimed too, that "never has a compact vehicle been so spacious." That may be going a bit far but our static front and rear seating test suggested oodles of head, leg and arm room.
There was good reason for presenting Modus at the Madrid show. It is being produced at Renault's Spanish Valladoid plant. Spain is Renault's second homeland with four assembly and engine plants that account for one quarter of its world output.
The message from the Madrid show - indeed all European motor shows - is of small car customers being spoiled for choice, what with the widening number of vehicle types available, especially small MPVs. In 1998, a total of 23 different models were being offered by European manufacturers. Today that figure has jumped to 40.
Toyota appeared to be having a big occasion at its stand because everywhere in the environs of the show, adverts were promoting the world premiere of the 2004 Corolla. But there isn't an all-new car, simply some facelifting. The biggest visual difference is that the honeycomb grille has been replaced and there are chrome bars that also feature on the recently launched Corolla Verso.
For Opel, Madrid meant the launch of the Opel Astra estate or station wagon. It carries all the technical attributes of the just-launched five-door version. The load volume with the seats in place is 530 litres but by folding down the rear bench seat and seat backs, this space expands to 1,570 litres, compared to 1,500 litres for the outgoing wagon. Buyers can also specify a sliding bench rear seat but that's an option. The Astra wagon will be going on sale this autumn.
Devotees of motor shows always give special attention to concept cars indicating as they do the shape of things to come. Seat's Toledo concept gave very much the flavour of the real thing. Spain's indigenous manufacturer, although now part of Volkswagen, is keen to portray a sexy sporting image and the Toledo does that with sweeping and curvaceous lines that don't obscure its practicality. Seat itself is a bit like Spain: somewhat old-fashioned and backward in the early 1980s but now thrusting forward with a definite and stylish 21st century outlook.
Our brief visit to the Madrid salon indicated just how better off Spanish motorists are compared to their Irish counterparts. Aside from the impressive road and motorway infrastructure, car prices are lower. We noted that the new small Kia Picanto, reviewed last week, is priced from €6,485: here it will be starting at around €11,500.
We also learned that the Spanish are one of the highest users of diesel for motoring in Europe. Over 60 per cent of the 1.4 millions car going on their roads this year will be diesel which must take dashing up and over the sierras a lot more tolerable in cost!