From Renault's Scenic 4-by-4 to Bertoni's futuristic Slim minivan, automakers will try to win over today's choosy buyers with eye-catching novelties when the Geneva car show opens this week. The huge costs of competing for those buyers with cleaner, technologically advanced cars has fuelled a sweep of mergers and acquisitions -- and rumours of secret meetings about more deals will add spice to the event.