Frankfurt Motor Show 2017- Review 1

The 2017-2018 auto-show season is kicking off in style with the Frankfurt Motor Show . Carmakers from around the world have gathered in Germany to display their latest and greatest. Some of the cars presented to the public provide a glimpse into the companies' coming product offers, while others are simply flights of fancy that will never make it out of concept land. 

Major international brands including Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz all unveiled show-stopping new models. 

This year's show offers an extensive lineup of vehicles, ranging from production-ready sedans and supercars to electric cars and SUVs. 

The second press day of the Frankfurt motor show 2017 is in full swing. Day one featured a hectic schedule of more than 100 “reveals” of new production cars, concepts (some fanciful, the majority with an eye to production) as well as a host of projects embracing hybrids, hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion and battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs).

Here is our round-up of the most important - and interesting - launches at the show from all the manufacturers present. There are plenty more to come.

Bentley

The Continental GT, with its extraordinary W12 twin-turbo engine and choice of just six colours, was launched in 2003 at £110,000 with a two-year waiting list. It formed the basis of cabriolets, saloon (Flying Spur) versions and boosted Bentley's production in Crewe to nearly 10,000 cars per year.

The second generation came in 2011 and now we have the third, based on the Porsche Panamera chassis, and it's a good deal lighter and (it is claimed) more sporting than ever before. It’s available now,with the 6.0-litre W12 priced at £156,700 with first deliveries late next spring.

It’s faster (207mph, 0-60mph in 3.6sec) and 76kg lighter thanks to its largely aluminium bodywork. There’ll definitely be a hybrid to come and most probably a V8, which will be the enthusiast driver’s option.

It’s horribly expensive, hardly economical, but it’s also super luxurious, quite lovely - and one of my cars of the show.

BMW

BMW Vision Dynamics

The boys from Munich had the honour of the first press conference of the morning, revealing the good-looking Vision Dynamics. Building on the design for last year’s Vision 100 concept, this battery-electric grand coupé concept is sleek, razor-edged and elegant. It’s not based on anything in particular, as Domagoj Dukec, the Croatian head of i and M design, says: “It will be earlier than 2030, but I can’t say exactly when.”

“In future you might be asked to test five different autonomous cars and they might all drive you to your destination, but the measure is how they make you feel.”

Bugatti

The Bugatti Chiron record-breaker 

Sporting an impressively deep paintwork finish despite its well-used history, this Bugatti Chiron is a record-breaker by some margin, achieving zero to 400kmh to zero (0-249mph-0) in just 41.96 seconds with ex-Formula One and IndyCar driver Juan Pablo Montoya at the wheel.

It's the distances that stagger here. From rest to 400kph took this 8.0-litre W16 quad-turbo monster just 32.6 seconds and 2,621 metres. At that point the car was travelling at 111.1 metres per second. Montoya stood on the anchors, the massive rear wing deployed and the car was static again 491 metres away 9.36 seconds later... The whole run was accomplished in just over three kilometres.

 This Chiron feat will form part of a series of record-breaking that Bugatti will be attempting in the coming 12 months. Stay tuned.

Citroen

The Citroen C3 Aircross is priced from £13,995 to £19,720

Like everyone else, the French firm has leapt wholeheartedly on the SUV bandwagon. Its new offering is the C3 Aircross, a compact (B-segment, in auto industry parlance) SUV that's claimed to have the space and modularity of a people carrier with an emphasis on comfort and connected technologies.

Dacia

The new Duster, making its debut at Frankfurt, is aimed at providing a better quality car at similar prices. The chassis platform is carried over from the current model, but the bodywork is all new and a lot more attractive, with less of a slab-sided appearance. There’s also a new burnt-sienna body colour; you know this because all the cars on the stand are so hued.

It's inside where the Duster gets a big revamp, with not a switch, instrument or surface untouched. Engines will be carried over in part, although the new fuel consumption tests due next year means they’ll have to be reworked.

The new Duster feels more of an authentic choice now rather than a middle class affectation.

Ferrari

The Portofino replaces the California T as the entry-level Ferrari. It has an uprated version of the California's 3,855cc, 90-degree V8 and, due to greater efficiency with reduced friction losses, it develops 592bhp at a heady 7,500rpm with 561lb ft of torque from 3,000-5,250rpm.

That's sufficient for a top speed of 199mph, with 0-62mph acceleration in 3.5sec.

Like the California, it has an electro-hydraulic retractable hard-top. Ferrari says it has been completely redesigned, including a reduction in weight, and it opens or closes in 14sec, including at low speed.

More important, an increase of 38bhp combined with an 80kg overall reduction in weight should ensure improved agility and performance, as well as a reduction in emissions (although it's unclear how many people buy a Ferrari for its low emissions).

Honda

The Urban EV Concept is actually less of a concept, more of a production future for this pretty little gadabout from the Japanese firm, which marks the first appearance of Honda's new electric vehicle platform.

Its retro styling is charming. The "suicide" doors, which speak of early Fiat Cinquecentos and Citroen Traction Avants, there's also a load of "communicating" lights at the front. It's 3.9 metres long, seats four and will go into production in 2019.

Honda has confirmed that electrified technology will feature in every new car it launches in Europe by 2025. The announcement was made by Honda president and CEO Takahiro Hachigo, during his speech at the reveal of the Urban EV in Frankfurt.

Mercedes-Benz

As a celebration of Mercedes-Benz’s three recent Formula One world championships, the Mercedes-AMG Project One is as near as you are going to get to an F1 car on the road. 

The teaser images in the build-up to the show led me to think that the styling would be more like the current brand of sinister-looking World Endurance Championship contenders (Toyota had its WEC racer on the stand) and with all the deployable aerodynamics at bay it looks a little too smooth, but get up close and you can see it’s a very serious vehicle indeed….

Over at Mercedes-Benz was the EQA. We saw the larger battery-electric EQC study at the Paris show last September and that car is mooted to be just two years away - this electric A-class concept, however, was a better looking thing even if its further from production.

It’s quick, with 0-62mph acceleration in about five seconds, a 249-mile range and four-wheel drive, with one electric motor in the front axle and one in the rear. Total system output is over 200kW and 500Nm and just 10 minutes on a rapid charger gives about 62 miles of range.

Kia

Meet the Proceed Concept - a new kind of Kia

The Korean firm has revealed its Proceed Concept. Designed at Kia’s European design centre in Frankfurt, less than a Kilometre from where it was unveiled, the concept indicates what the next-generation Cee’d family hatchback could look like.

Gregory Guillaume, Chief Designer Europe for Kia Motors, said: The Proceed Concept represents a bold new vision of how the vibrant soul of the pro_cee’d could be reincarnated and revitalised for a new generation of performance-oriented drivers.”

The future looks bright..

The Stonic, Kia's entry into the compact SUV market

The Stonic compact SUV, Kia's entry into Europe’s fastest-growing vehicle segment, makes its public debut before going on sale in the UK next month.

It is available in up to 20 two-tone colour combinations, with a choice of five colours for the roof. The interior offers a host of personalisation options, while Kia claims class-leading shoulder room and generous leg and head room.

Petrol and diesel engines will be offered, all with manual gearboxes. 

Renault

 Renault Symbioz

The Renault Symbioz. It would be equally happy parked inside your house, apparently

In the spirit of Le Corbusier, the great French Swiss architect and visionary, Renault’s Symbioz concept posits a world of the future where autonomous, electrically-powered cars not only transport us, but in the wealthiest households are also industrial design of the premier cru.

 Renault Megane R.S. (not RS)

It has an all-new, 277bhp engine and 4CONTROL four-wheel steering, with the option of six-speed manual or six-speed EDC automatic transmissions.

Fast Renault fetishists will appreciate the choice of Sport and Cup (with a limited-slip differential) chassis, both with revised front suspension. 

An even more track-focussed Trophy version, with 300hp and 400Nm of torque, will be available by the end of 2018.

Skoda

The Karoq joins the burgeoning compact SUV market

The big news at Skoda is the Karoq, yet another compact SUV 

As well as the usual guff about SUV offensives, the Karoq has "emotive and dynamic design with crystalline features characterising the brand's new SUV design language".

It has a relatively long wheelbase in relation to the overall length, so it should be reasonably spacious. Skoda also claims best-in-class luggage space, at 521 litres with the rear seats in place and 1,630 litres when they're folded. Thee is also the option of VarioFlex rear seating, with three separate rear seats that can be individually adjusted. When they're removed the total load volume is a van-like 1,810 litres.

Subaru

The new Subaru Impreza: perfect for those want all-wheel drive but don't want an SUV

This tiny Japanese car-maker continues to plough its own furrow producing four-wheel drive Impreza hatchbacks with flat-four engines. Produced in yen, the Ford Focus-sized hatchbacks can be expensive, but they also have a staggering reliability record, which means people tend to hold on to them.

It's based on Subaru’s all new global architecture and has been on sale in the US since last year. It’s a five-door hatchback and is aimed at a small but valiant market of people who want all-wheel drive but don’t want an SUV.

Initially with a revamped, 114PS 1.6-litre flat-four engine. A 156PS, 2.0-litre flat-four will follow, with a hybrid in 2019 and a battery-electric version in 2021.

All the models will have a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and four-wheel drive. Also standard will be Subaru’s Eyesight driver protection system, which includes: pre-collision braking and throttle management; adaptive cruise control; lane-departure warning; and lane keeping assistance.

Smart

Mercedes-owned Smart laid on an excruciating ‘Kids From Fame’ launch for its Vision EQ Fortwo, a cheeky autonomous urban concept, which posits a sort of Cuban taxi model of lift-sharing, plus an individual cab ride if you choose. Mercedes-Smart also suggest it could do parcel delivery work at night.

It’s controlled via complex algorithms but responds to smartphone hailing and voice control. There are only two seats, so it’s not as practical.

Toyota

Toyota Land Cruiser, all new from stem to stern

The latest in a long line of Land Cruisers took a bow at Frankfurt, all new from stem to stern. It goes on sale in the UK next year and Toyota is looking forward to taking some sales out of Land Rover after the demise of its long-running Defender; there are even strong rumours that Toyota will offer a commercial version of the Land Cruiser, a market it left a long time ago.

Invincible? Perhaps not, but the Hilux pick-up has a deserved reputation for toughness

On the subject of being tough and going anywhere, Toyota’s Hilux pick-up, a name which is 50 years old this year, is being celebrated with a 50th concept vehicle. Just so you know it’s a concept, they stuck a big sign in front of it saying "Showcar".

Vauxhall

Vauxhall's Grandland X is based on the current European Car of the Year

Under the skin, Vauxhall’s new Grandland X SUV is basically a Peugeot 3008; this was a deal done way before last year’s takeover of Vauxhall/Opel by PSA Peugeot-Citroen. Besides, it’s not a bad thing to stick a griffin badge on the front of the 3008, which won last year’s prestigious European Car of the Year award and has been pulling up some trees in the family SUV market dominated by Nissan’s Qashqai.

It goes on sale next year and there’ll be four trim levels and two basic engines, a 1.6 diesel and a three-cylinder petrol. Like the 3008, all the versions will come only with front-wheel drive and Vauxhall is confidently predicting that the Grandland X will have the second biggest retail sales volume after the Corsa.

The Vauxhall stand also features the Insignia GSi, a high-performance variant with all-wheel drive, an uprated chassis and Brembo brakes, along with the Insignia Country Tourer, a jacked-up estate with all-wheel drive and off-road styling in the form of plastic cladding around the wheelarches.