2007 Frankfurt Motor Show Wrap-up
On the flight home, I was asked by the passenger sitting beside me to describe my experience at the Frankfurt Motor Show in one sentence. As someone who generally elongates thoughts for the purposes of story-telling, I found it a challenge to try and condense two days of running from hall to hall into something so short. In the end, I came up with the simple statement, “It’s really big!”
The North American International Auto Show in Detroit is also a large event, as is the bi-annual Tokyo Auto Show. But with the reported intention of Porsche to not attend this year’s Detroit Show, the timing of Frankfurt in late summer along with the presence of every major automotive company, the significance of this event continues to grow. Rounding out our coverage Frankfurt, here is a summary of some of the vehicles I wish were coming to North America, what I enjoyed most about the city and which automotive company, in my opinion, was the biggest winner and loser at the show.
Europeans love their wagons, and for various reasons I can’t say I blame them. The practical benefits of driving a four-door vehicle with plenty of room for storage and a wide opening rear hatch is something so logical, I am shocked we haven’t taken to the idea on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. My only conclusion is that somehow Chevy Chase must be the reason. His performance as Clark Griswold in the National Lampoon’s series has forever tempered the benefits of driving anything that even remotely looks like a station wagon in the minds of Americans.
The Cadillac BLS Wagon is the first of its kind in the 104 year history of the company. With style and high-levels of engineering, it is in every way a luxury automobile, bringing to light a design concept that seems long overdue for Cadillac.
Featuring a 2.8L gasoline engine with 252 hp and a 1.9L diesel that produces 148 hp, cruising capabilities look to be excellent while emissions are kept to a minimum. I can almost guarantee if this were the vehicle used in the movie and not the “Wagonqueen Family Truckster”, the Cadillac BLS Wagon would do as well here as it should in Europe.
The Fiat 500, Suzuki Splash and Opel Aglia are all small cars with big heart. Of these, the one expected to have the most impact is the Fiat 500, with the Opel Aglia coming a close second. Designed to give the Mini a serious run for its money, Fiat first debuted the car in early July, exactly 50 years to the date of the first 500. In Frankfurt, the display area surrounding the new Fiat 500 was a beehive of activity.
With journalists from all corners of the planet crowding the stage and lining up to take a test drive on the indoor track, models where kept busy posing beside cars for pictures while the information booth struggled to meet the demand for brochures.
As one of the first journalists to drive the vehicle in Italy earlier this summer, the little Fiat 500 is certainly worthy of all the attention. Shaped similar to the Volkswagen Beetle, though smaller in size, the interior design is executed with Mini-like precision while the car itself is just plain fun-to-drive. A 3-spoke steering wheel engages the driver with the road while seats are comfy even though everything feels as if it is designed to ¾ scale. With a little luck, maybe we will see the Fiat 500 in North America some day. If not, make sure to request one as a rental car the next time you visit Europe.
Getting to and from the Frankfurt Motor Show was easy. This is true even though I was staying at a hotel some 15 miles out of town. In Europe, the bus, rail and underground systems are some of the finest in the world. Given the geographical size of the United States and Canada, we struggle to incorporate mass transit into our daily lives. But in Europe, and especially in Frankfurt, commuting is a way of life.
The entrance to where I would catch the underground each day was a ten minute walk from the hotel. From there, my arrival at the show was but a 20 minute ride to the main terminal in Frankfurt and then a secondary ride of no more than 5 minutes to the main entrance on the grounds.
Wait times between transfers were never more than 10 minutes. The German’s are so good at keeping to schedule; you can set your watch by when the next “train” will arrive. Because of this expertise in commuting, I am almost surprised at the amazing automobiles that come from Europe. But is seems no matter how well mass transit works, the need for personal mobility is still desirable and for that I am very grateful.
The biggest winner and loser at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show for me was the Ford Motor Company. The big blue oval struck a universal chord with the sensational Jaguar XF, Volvo ReCharge Concept and new Mazda6. They also made Europeans stand up and take notice of the new Ford Focus, Ford Kuga and Ford Verve Concept. All vehicles have the promise of being solid performers in the market.
Where Ford drops the ball, at least in my opinion, is in not bringing all their best European designs back to North American. The Ford Mondeo, European Ford Focus and Ford Kuga would look equally as appealing to car buyers in Los Angeles as they will at the dealerships in Frankfurt. We can only hope that someday Ford will recognize this fact and bring to everyone the very best it has to sell.
It will be two years before we attend another Frankfurt Motor Show. With many significant changes expected in the automotive industry, there is no telling what might be unveiled on stage the next time I find myself running from event to event. But whatever it is, it promises to be exciting and we’ll be there covering it for you.
