2011 Frankfurt Auto Show Brings Ups, Downs and Surprises

The 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show will be remembered as the show where green went mainstream. Nearly every major manufacturer brought either a production, green car or a concept to Germany. If you were looking for performance from Frankfurt, you might have left disappointed. European and American governments are pushing auto makers into making more efficient, less polluting models, but it looks like makers have no quite figured out how to apply that to enthusiast cars.

My major letdown of the show came from Porsche. I love the design of the new 911. The front was left untouched, and the rear gets a subtle redesign. It seems like Porsche is trying to move the 911 even more towards a luxury GT and allowing the Cayman and Boxter to take the true sports car moniker.

What bothered me was the lack of information about the new model that will sit between the 911 and 918. I know that it is still in planning stages, but a hint would have been nice.

Where was the 918. It is probably coming in 2013, maybe even late 2012. Shouldn't we be getting more info? Maybe at the Detroit Auto Show. That is where it debuted last year.

My other letdown were the American cars being sold in Europe next year. What are Fiat and Chevrolet Europe thinking? Chevrolet Europe is going to sell the Malibu in Europe next year when the new version of the car hits the US in 2013. It is not doing anything to improve or change the car for Europe, and it already sells the Vectra that is based on the same platform.

Fiat is going to sell the Freemont, a seven-passenger SUV, next year that is a rebadged Dodge Journey. That is not generally considered a good SUV here. Selling it in Europe seems like a big mistake.

The other companies that really let me down were Toyota and Subaru with the FT-86 and BRZ. These cars are coming next year, and we still have not seen full production versions and do not know how much power that it will make or what it will cost.

It is going to take a lot to make this vehicle successful. In the US, the Camaro and Mustang are available for about $22,000 with over 300hp V6 engines, and the Hyundai Genesis Coupe has over 200hp for $22,000. The FT-86 and BRZ are powered by a naturally aspirated 2.0 liter, Subaru boxer engine. If there is a miracle, it could make 200hp, but it is much more likely to have between 170hp and 180hp. So unless it can retail for well less than $20,000, it is going to be outgunned by the competition.

This car had great potential, but it is appearing like it will be a letdown.

I honestly loved all of the small, green cars at the show. It is like living in the beginning of the last century. Every automaker is toying with a different way to make a car as efficient as possible. BMW, Chevy and Mercedes are toying with range extenders. VW and Audi obviously have their diesels and pure electric motors. Ford is making super efficient diesels. I love seeing all of this experimentation to build an efficient car.

I live in the US, and unfortunately my two cars of the show will never come here. I really liked the VW Up and Ford Focus ST Wagon.

The Up just seems like a great, classic city car.

Comapre it to the BMW i3. BMW is pushing the absolute limit with the i3. It has CFRP panels, a state of the art power train and genre pushing design. Doing all of those things at once is really cool but is a big gamble. It is going to cost a lot to build and the reliability is totally untested.

The Up does not try to push any real boundaries. It just wants to be a good, small car. Its made of steel and aluminum and has standard petrol and diesel engines. The design is very attractive, though. It will be cheaper than the BMW and might be more reliable.

The other car that I fell in love with for the show was the Ford Focus ST Wagon. It has 250hp from a 2 liter, turbocharged engine and technology to mitigate torque steer. It is a great looking five-door, compact station wagon. The best part of it all, though, is that interior. The cockpit has great gauges and grippy seats. It might have too many buttons, but I really dig the car.

My surprise of the show was the Volvo Concept You. If you read my obituary for Saab, you know I love Swedish cars. I worry about Volvo's Chinese-owned future, but I really liked that they looked back at the PV544 for this concept.

This is the first time that I have ever had to cover an auto show as a journalist, and it has been intriguing as an outsider looking in. The auto makers throw out a ton of press releases and information in just two days. It is difficult to step back while it is happening to actually think about what is coming out, and what the cars will mean to the market. The fight right now is clearly in the small car sector. When these cars hit the market next year, and we can find out how these cars really drive and handle, then we will finally know who will win the city car competition. Until then, they all have certain advantages.  

We will have coverage of the future, major auto shows on Autoviva, and I am looking forward to covering them.