Much more than other shows, Frankfurt takes a lot of getting around, but it is worth the effort. For our efforts, we report below on our highlights, and hope you enjoy. All pictures strictly copyright Trish Whelan/Brian Byrne, Irish Car+Travel magazine.
Maybe the car of the show? Jaguar has been doing some great things lately, and this latest close to production C-X16 concept of a 2-seat points to the near future, perhaps as some commentators place it, the spiritual resurrection of the iconic E Type? A supercharged 380hp 3.0 V6 petrol engine with an electric motor that, at the push of a switch, can give the car a 10-second boost in power up to 475hp. And all this at a fuel consumption of less than 7L/100kms. The power and the greenery of it all!
A challenge for Land Rover to bring out a brand new Defender is being met by a four-year programme of development of a new icon model. These DC100 concept variants revealed at Frankfurt show that they are very serious about bringing the post-WW2 original right into to the 21st century. Somethings to sigh over?
Mercedes-Benz is celebrating what it calls '125! years of innovation' and the brand's key concept at this year's Frankfurt gathering is the F125! research vehicle, envisaged under the sexy showcar skin as a plug-in hybrid fuel-cell car with a range of around 1,000kms. The motive power is by four individual electric motors, one in each wheel, resulting in AWD ability. A 4-seat luxury saloon, the car shows off innovative storage of its hydrogen fuel in a system integrated into the bodyshell structure.
Now that Mercedes-Benz has separated its A-Class and B-Class in ethos—the former will arrive in a new sporty car look next year—the larger of the two has been completely revised to provide a proper compact 'sports tourer' to the range. Better aerodynamics, new engines and a dual-clutch transmission are just part of the changed nameplate. The car is lower than its predecessor but has more space inside.
Mercedes-Benz has always had a tradition of rather beautiful and very powerful sports cars, and the SLS AMG Roadster is no exception. For the well-heeled who wants power and sexy looks, the 571hp 6.3 V8 engine is managed by a 7-speed dual clutch transmission and has a fabric roof that closes in a fast 11 seconds. An electronically controlled suspension is an option and this 2-seater is a classic.
Although its main car for Frankfurt is the new generation Civic, Honda also quietly wheeled in its revised CR-V crossover. Retaining the basic shape and style cues of its predecessor, there's a more intriguing front end treatment and an upgrade to the interior to push the car upwards in premium perception. The 2.2 diesel with 148hp remains the key power plant for Europe, with a new transmission.
Once Porsche had proven that a supercar marque can achieve success with a high-powered SUV/crossover it was only a matter of time before its main rivals followed suit. Maserati's reveal of its Kubang was done to lots of oohs and aahs. Power comes from a Ferrari-sourced engine, and the car is to be built in America in the same plant as the Jeep Cherokee. It goes on sale next year with a €100,000+ price tag.
As Europe's best-selling small car, Fiat didn't want to tip anything out with the bathwater of providing a replacement, so the new one retains the individualistic style cues. But the car is rather bigger, and on the Italian maker's stand was finished inside in very fetching style and trim. The extra room shows mostly in the boot, while the use of Fiat's TwinAir engine systems will make it even more frugal with the go-juice. The third generation of the nameplate, it is built on an improved variant of the platform that carries the highly successful 500.
There has always been a superheated version of Jeep's Grand Cherokee flagship, and the new generation one now gets its SRT8. Hunky details on the body and interior are matched by a muscular powertrain. STR in Jeepspeak stands for street racing technology, while the 8 signifies a V8, in this case a 6.4 HEMI with 465hp and a 4.8sec performance to 100km/h. A lowered and dynamic suspension system keeps all those horses controlled.
An Audi concept that looks about ready for production, this previews how the upcoming A2 will look and be sized. The car is aimed to plug a gap between the A1 minicar and the A3 compact hatch. With the brand on a business roll over recent years, the company is intent on mopping up buyers in every niche segment it can do. The concept has a pure electric powertrain with a range of around 150kms, but an extended-range variant is also planned for when this one rolls out in less than two years' time. All-aluminium body and structure keeps the weight down.
This little concept of an urban 2-seater from Audi is an attractive mix of future and retro, the supersized external wheels recalling racing car design from the 1930s. Electric power and a 60 kilometres range confine it to the city and the occupants needn't be rubbing shoulders as the two seats in tandem are slightly offset. In both roofed and spider formats, the vehicle is called simply Urban Concept.
Long promised, an A8 flagship production car with just 2 litres capacity engine makes its debut. Of course, the 245hp powertrain is hybrid, and more than ample to swish Audi's largest car along the highway with power and frugality. The electric motor is housed in the transmission and can drive the car on its own—though only for about 3 kimometres. The front end is more in your face than ever.
Like most concepts, SEAT's IBL 'sports saloon' won't be going into production as a model, but it does show the design cues being considered for future cars from VW's Spanish brand. The very clean lines and minimalist exterior are echoed by what the company says is a premium interior. With the Exeo experiment, based on an older Audi platform, giving SEAT some insights into saloons with a SEAT badge, the IBL suggests that there is a booted car of their own in the company's future.
There is always a place for a new Porsche 911, the icon of the brand. And the new generation launched at Frankfurt this year stays very true to the iconic shape of the original. Crowded around, of course, but with more power and less emissions, it helps to push the buttons of a more planet-considering bunch of enthusiasts.
Catch this Lamborghini Reventon in your rear view mirror and you could be forgiven if you thought you had strayed inadvertently onto the runway being used by a taking off stealth fighter. They don't come much meaner looking, Lamborghini has long since put behind it the jibe attributed to Enzo Ferrari that his rival was producing the 'fastest tractors in the world'.
The Bugatti Veyron has been along in many shows now, in concept, development and (very limited numbers and expensive) production models. The picture just can't do justice to the extraordinary paint job of this special Grand Sport 16.4 version. An 8.0 W16 engine, 404km/h, 1,001hp (wonder how they squeezed that last one horse out?) makes it a wild animal indeed. And the 596g/km CO2 emissions rather put it at the most expensive Irish car tax band.
There are three absolute truisms in life: death, taxes, and interest in Ferraris. The big deal at the Italian supercar's stand this year was the rollout of the 458 Spider variant, which comes ready for automotive nirvana with the only additions required being fuel (lots of it), sunshine, and a twisting coastline road between Italy and France.
Dream and dream on, the latest in what is arguably the most elegant line of luxury cars—the Bentley Continental GT—is this GTC Convertible. A masterclass in automotive accomplishment, it is reserved for those who are masters of their own (rich) lives.
Skoda's Mission L concept is a thinly-disguised treatment for a forthcoming compact family model, mainly interesting for the new style of front end, and, of course, the new Skoda logo revealed at Geneva in March. Almost too good for its VW owner's health, Skoda continues to drive forward in its under-appreciated heritage of high quality carmaking.
VW's key car for this show is one of the smallest, the oddly-named Up! will take over the mantle of VW's city car business. Conventional state-of-art powertrains at first, but expect EV variants sooner rather than later, as they have been strongly flagged at the concept stages over recent shows.
We have already driven the new generation VW Beetle in advance of its arrival in Ireland and like it a lot. It is much more masculine in concept and execution, and the German carmaker hopes to extend the buyer interest to a more balanced situation genderwise. Hotter variants will help.
Suzuki's main theme is a Sport version of its second generation Swift. Already smart looking, the subtle power theme enhancements add to the car's appeal. No real 'wow!' factor, but possibly the real-world alternative to the Mini Hatch in its faster versions.
Renault invented the compact minivan idea and still comes up with concept variations on the theme that strike good musical chords. The Frendzy is their Frankfurt offering, and a cheerful thing it is too. Low-tech blackboard instead of a rear side window is cheeky, but maybe they're aiming at the school run trade: homework on the way home, anyone?
So is Kia looking to take on Audi and BMW in the GT sports car business? You might want to put a few bob with Paddy Power on it, because the smaller half of the Hyundai/Kia Korean powerhouse doesn't show stuff off for the sake of it. Well flagged, this rear-drive showcar is even more impressive in the metal, and rivals Ford's Evos for sporty coupe of the show.
A compact SUV from Mazda could give the well-regarded carmaker a lever into that interesting segment in Ireland. The CX-5 shown at Frankfurt has smart looks and shows the modified 'face' of Mazda, rather more serious that the 'big smile' of current products. Competition is pretty fierce here, but the good diesel powertrains and the Skyactiv fuel-saving technologies now included in the design of all new and future cars from the brand will help to ease it in.
Listen, after a long day on her high-heeled feet, a girl has to rest somewhere. And the sexy countours of the Alfa Romeo 4C concept make as handy a seat as any. We have seen this one before (the car, the car) but for this show they actually have a nicer finish. We do know that a production car will eventually come, but please don't keep teasing all those Alfacionados, or Alfisti if you must.
Hyundai's i30 has been gaining many happy owners since it was first launched in Ireland a few years ago, and now seems set to build substantially on that base. The new generation i30 was launched here yesterday, and the style changes show a much more European context which will make it an additional worry to the likes of Volkswagen's Golf and Ford's Focus. The car is Hyundai's biggest selling model in Europe, and the outgoing version notched up a very respectable 350,000 units in the course of its life.
This is the most powerful M-B C-Class of all time, the C63 AMG Coupe Black Series which has a massive 517hp under that bonnet, thanks to a 6.3 V8 which can pull the car to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds. With that wing, it's bound to be the aspiration for all those grown up boy racers who can no longer buy hot Subaru Imprezas new.
Citroen can always be depended on for some wild stuff, and this remake of its old corrugated Type H van (the Tub) in the Tubik concept takes a modern tilt on how a minivan can be a place of leisure rather than a mere thing of transportation. Leather floors, silk trim, a cinema? So what's changed since the VW van pop-top of the late 50s and flower power? Well, the new diesel hybrid engine for one thing.
For Citroen's real cars this time around, Frankfurt is where they have revealed their third in the DS series of 'a little more than standard' vehicles. A right luxurious large car it is too, and we are getting quite impressed with this series of wheels. Not at all the gimmick the idea might have seemed at first. The 160hp diesel powertrain has an electric motor attached, giving the DS5 more oomph, less emissions, and AWD.
Of course, Citroen's sibling company Peugeot has the HYbrid4 powertrains too, and they launched their 508 RXH wagon at the show. A more butch version of the standard car, it rides higher, and the AWD hybrid system gives it the ability to go a little into the extremes if desired, though we figure it's a really suitable car for Ireland's new snowy winters.
Toyota's new generation Yaris is arriving in Ireland this week, and shows a much sharper style than the cuddly outgoing model. The interior brings the car on too, with more traditional instruments than the digital ones of the previous generations, and a much stronger sense to the inside style and quality of trim.
Toyota has also given its key Avensis a mid-life refresh, providing a more dynamic look, edgier headlights, some restyles to the back of the saloon, and a significant improvement in the interior feel and look. The 2.0 diesel is now an A rated car in Irish tax terms. There were also detail changes to the Prius lineup, with another look at the plug-in one coming on general sale next year, and the + variant with seven seats.
Opel's RAK_e two-seater concept is an electric city car that looks a lot safer than a motorcycle and would cost very little to run.
In real world terms, the company showed off its new Astra GTC, quite gorgeous but losing a little in impact because we have seen concept versions and pictures for quite a while now.
And the production version of the Zafira Tourer is a real smart looker, likely to pick up an expanded share of the compact MPV market alongside the current model which will continue to be built and sold. There are elements of Ampera in the front end design.
Ford's Evos concept we have written about in the last couple of weeks, and we merely reiterate what we said then: dump the crazy doors and put a real engine in and simply build it.
When we heard that Chevrolet were introducing the made-for-America Malibu to Europe as their flagship model we were less than overwhelmed. But shown at Frankfurt, it is a very tidy indeed car in the metal. Diesel engines will predominate in Europe, while petrol options are 2.4 and 1.6 turbocharged.
The brand also showed off a really cool concept roadster, the Miray. Designed in South Korea by GM, it is a hybrid with a 1.5 petrol engine and two electric motors. Like Ford's Evos, we say: build it and they will buy.
This is Honda's new Civic, continuing some of the style themes of the outgoing car but with a much sharper styling to our eyes. European distributors are expecting it to boost the nameplate, which has been dipping a little in the last while. Lower and wider, the 1.4 petrol and 2.2 diesel have been tweaked, but the real deal will be a new 1.6 diesel due sometime after the car is launched in RHD form early next year.
What can we say? Anything produced by Mini will sell, even a couple of the dafter variants of the last while. But this new Coupe, in 'helmet' style, will deserve to capture the hearts of the droves who will buy. The usual grades and powertrains apply, less the most basic.
The latest version of another series legend, the simplicity of BMW's M5 presentation says it all: you don't have to shout about what you can do, you just do it. A 550hp 4.4 V8 delivers 4.4 seconds to 100 km/h, in uber-cool understatement.
Of the big number of electric ideas at Frankfurt, the most appealing visually is the i3 concept from BMW, a production version of which is due in a year or so. Reckon they'll get it right, too.
Volvo didn't make much of it, but their Concept You large fastback sedan is quite stunning in its design simplicity. It is close to the look of a large car from the now Chinese-owned carmaker.
Subaru's XV concept is nicely understated—apart from the colour! Originally debuted at the Shanghai Motor Show, it previews how the company is looking at its AWD crossover cars, such as the current Forester. Obviously they figure style is as necessary as substance these days even for icon brands.
Style is, of course, something that Peugeot does very well these days, and they used the show to signal that they intend to get back into the big car game with the HX1 concept. Again with the new HYbrid4 diesel powertrain, we can expect a crossover-style large car to come out of the mix in the relatively near future.
