New models grace Geneva Auto Show

GENEVA: The auto industry will put ecology and economy on display when the Geneva Motor Show opens to the public on Thursday, to try to reverse plunging sales.

The first European rendezvous of the year from March 5 to 15 is still expected to attract 700,000 visitors, according to the organisers.

Some 120 new or modified models are due to be presented in the western Swiss city as car companies from around the world woo reluctant buyers.

Sales continued to fall in 2009, with new car registrations dropping by 27 percent in Europe last month to 958,000 vehicles, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

Sales plunged by 18 percent in the United States in 2008, and by 37 percent last month according to some studies.