Today is international women’s day and the theme is Be Bold For Change. As the Geneva motor show prepares to open, we noticed they had posted something on their Facebook page to mark the day: “Women are honored today! We wish them a beautiful and sweet day!”
The car industry has traditionally been male dominated. Just think of those calendars found on the walls in car workshops. Bright images of fast curvaceous cars with incongruously posed women next to them.
To get an unscientific gauge of how much the scene might be boldly changing we took a look at this year’s photos on the show’s website to see how much they might resemble those workshop calendars.
Under the tab “Premiers” are photos of around 180 new cars. The first photo is of an Alfa Romeo. It features two women standing either side of the car. Could they be the car’s designers? Unlikely. Not a great start.
© Geneva Motor Show
The next 30 photos feature no people. Then there is a female model next to a Citroen. This time it is a lone woman alongside a compact colourful model. From this you get the sense that the model represents the target market for the car. Citroen repeats this theme with a woman in ski attire next to a car kitted out for the mountains. These two don’t ring any alarm bells.
© Geneva Motor Show
Next up is a Lamborghini. This photo series features two women and looks a lot like those workshop calendars.
© Geneva Motor Show
Next to trigger the car workshop calendar-o-meter is the Kia Stinger, followed closely by the new Lexus.
© Geneva Motor Show
The next few pages yield nothing and then the needle swings back into the red with the Ssangyong Korando Facelift, a car with two women fawning over it, neither of which looks in need of a facelift.
© Geneva Motor Show
So overall, five cars out of close to 180 look like they might be using women as scenery. Not too bad.
However, from here it all goes rapidly down hill. Upon clicking the tab entitled “Atmosphere” the models are revealed. Oh dear.
© Geneva Motor Show
© Geneva Motor Show
© Geneva Motor Show
© Geneva Motor Show
A beautiful and sweet day indeed.
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