Posted by Robert on September 28th, 2009
One of our customers, Robert, posted a great review of the Frankfurt motor show on our blog about the BMW Vision Efficient Dynamic the other day. It was so comprehensive, in fact, that we decided to publish it as a full blog post in it’s own right! Enjoy and let us know if you went to the motor show as well!
Rob White – Marketing, Avis UK
I was lucky enough to visit the show yesterday. Thoroughly enjoyed it as always, and I think this year’s is possibly the largest, most lavish there has been so far (well, of the ones I have visited, anyway).
I would agree that this year’s show had a large “electric car” theme to it, which was to be expected, and was very interesting indeed. However, there is still a long way to go and the technology is still in its early days compared to the standard conventional motor car. There were some stunning new cars at the show, I’ll try and mention a few of them that stood out, for me at least. In terms of show stands, BMW most definitely had the most impressive hall, with race tracks running through it, a car “cut walk” etc. It was huge, and if I am not mistaken, I think they had the same hall Mercedes used last year.
As always, some of the more exclusive manufacturers allowed visitors on their stands by invitation only, and I was lucky enough to be invited to visit the Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Jaguar stands.
I thought the new Rolls Ghost is gorgeous, and the first Rolls that would actually appeal to the younger generation (Not that I could afford one in any way….). I had a nice rest in the back of a Phantom, just to see how the other side lives…
Loved the new Jaguar XJ!!! What a different animal to the old one which was lovely but very traditional. The new one is beautiful, though I can see why it wouldn’t be to all tastes, especially the rear. The XF looks stunning as always. They didn’t bother with any X-Types; seems they are going to stop manufacturing them in the next couple of months anyway, and not a minute too soon. Shame they aren’t replacing it though, as if they came out with a “mini” XF to compete in the BMW 3 and Audi A4 category that would be amazing, but no plans right now.
Now, back to earth…
The new Astra is a lovely looking car both inside and out – It basically has the Insignia interior which is a very good thing, and a huge step forward from the old model. I did find it a little cramped in the back, and if I were driving there would be no way anyone my height (6.2) could fit in the back behind me.
The Citroen DS3 is one of the cutest and coolest little cars I have seen in a long time. They come in 4 different colour combinations, so you choose the roof colour and the body colour, (a trend Mini started, (and which has been adopted by the likes of Skoda with the Fabia, and others). I think I would choose this really cool car over the Mini (brilliant fun to drive but too common now), or the 500.
Talking of Mini, they did bring the new Mini concept Coupe convertible which they have promised they are going to make – it’s really cool and makes a nice change from the standard one.
Renault brought the new Fluence to the show. It’s a family salon originally aimed at developing Eastern markets, but I was told they are now considering selling it in Western Europe too. It’s a actually a nice looking car, with the same interior as the Laguna. In fact I was not sure what the point was of offering both cars, and I was told the Fluence was more Megane size then Laguna – Possibly, but it didn’t look that way.
Volvo’s new S60 concept car is a stunner, and the production car due next year is likely to look almost identical. It’s got that 4 door coupe theme going (Ala Merc CLS, Passat CC, A5 etc) and you can definitely spot some styling cues from the XC60 which I think is one of the nicer looking SUV’s on the road.
Saab brought the new 9-5 to the show. This is basically a glorified Vauxhall Insignia. I like the styling, especially from the rear, but the inside is too similar to the Insignia (the steering wheel is identical) and just doesn’t feel special enough. This is a car that starts at £30k and you would have expected a little more from Saab. A bit disappointing, but I’m still interested to see what they will be like to drive.
There were hundreds more cars there of course, from your average family saloons to Lamborghinis and Ferraris, but I’ve tried to sum up the few that actually got my attention for more than just a couple of minutes…
All in all a great show, looking forward to the next one already!
Robert