Automakers desperate to generate buzz at Geneva show

— -- The Geneva auto show in Switzerland this week provides desperate automakers from around the world a chance to stir interest in their new vehicles.

Geneva, held from Thursday to March 15, is annually Europe's first major auto show, but as other shows from London to Tokyo shrink and consider cancellation in the face of the worldwide recession, Geneva takes on unprecedented importance and the list of vehicles to debut there grows.

Chevrolet will show the production versions of two small and fuel-efficient cars GM developed to raise the brand's global profile and rejuvenate U.S. sales. Fiat, Chrysler's potential Italian partner, will reveal new engines the company calls vital to its plan for the United States.

Ford's spicy 300-horsepower Focus RS performance compact foreshadows the broad range of small vehicles the automaker is engineering in Europe for production and sale around the world. The next generation of the European-engineered Focus is to go into production at Ford's Wayne, Mich., assembly plant next year.

The lightning-fast Focus RS uses its turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine to combine 30-miles per gallon fuel economy with 0 to 62 mph acceleration of just 5.9 seconds and a top speed of 163 mph.

Ford will combine turbocharging with direct fuel-injection in the EcoBoost system it will offer in V-6 engines to provide fuel economy and power in the Taurus SHO and other models in the United States this year. Ford will also use turbos and direct injection to wring more power and fuel economy out of the array of small cars and crossovers it will build and sell in the United States.

The Focus RS is the first product of Ford's new global performance team.

Ford also plans to show the latest in the line of Iosis concept vehicles its European design team created to introduce the brand's striking new design. No advance details are available, but any Iosis is worth watching. Previous concepts led to stunning vehicles like the Kuga sporty crossover and Mondeo sedan.