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2019 Frankfurt motor show: Hits and misses

Another huge Frankfurt motor show done and dusted. What was worth checking out? What tickled and tormented showgoers?


It looks like the Defender was a big favourite for our team, along with Hyundai's minimalist and sharp 45 electric concept. BMW's Concept 4 coupe concept, on the other hand, not so lucky...

Check out our team's hits and misses below, and tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

 

Paul Maric, at the show

Best production car: Defender, ID.3, Taycan

For me it's a dead heat. It goes to both the Land Rover Defender, the Volkswagen ID.3 and the Porsche Taycan. Often applause after a reveal at a motor show stand is just a polite thing to do before moving on to the next stand.

At the Land Rover stand, adventurer Kenton Cool scaled a vertical rock wall that gradually descended to become a 44.5 degree bridge between the top of the Land Rover stand and the bottom. He then climbed into an all-new Defender 90 and drove down this incredible rock wall parking the vehicle in front of the crowd. The crowd erupted with applause and cheering, not believing what they had just seen. A seriously cool display and a seriously cool new car.

The Porsche Taycan redefines what it means to have an electric car that doubles as a performance car. No power degradation and a pretty spiffy Nurburgring lap time (that could be challenged shortly by Tesla) combine to make one heck of a desirable electric sports car. Bravo Porsche.

Finally, the dead heat finishes with the Volkswagen ID.3. It's the size of a Golf, with the interior room of a Passat that accelerates like a Golf GTI. What more is there not to like? A very reasonable starting price is teamed with a driving range of up to 550km. And, it's due in Australia by 2022, but not before a raft of other ID-based electric vehicles.

 

Best concept car: Audi AI-Trail concept

Why? JUST LOOK AT IT. It's some kind of a lifestyle concept vehicle that has built in drones that light the road ahead of it. It makes no sense and it'll never make it into production, but according to Audi it dictates the direction the company is heading in for SUV design.

 

Biggest miss: Mercedes-AMG Project 1

Dear Mercedes-Benz...where is the car? It was meant to be basically ready by now, but it's now nowhere to be found.

 

Mike Costello, at the show

Best production car: Volkswagen ID.3

The Volkswagen ID.3 is obviously the most significant model launch in Frankfurt. It stands on the dais alongside Golf and Beetle in strategic importance for the brand, as it enters the electric-car era and banishes its diesel-fired demons to the coal pit of history.

Ok that's a touch flowery. But the reality is a from-the-ground-up EV with between 330km and 550km of range depending on which capacity battery you choose, a minimalist interior as digital as Tron and as 'connected' as a Silicon Valley Ted Talk, and a promised price of under 30,000 Euros.

If it comes to Australia at $45,000 (which it very well could since we're so far back in the queue we're waiting until 2022 for ours) then it will be the circuit breaker many prospective battery-electric buyers are seeking.

Hat tip also goes to the Honda E, by the way. A chic urban EV that looks a million dollars and is the model to make this dormant brand great again.

 

Best concept car: Mercedes-Benz EQS

This is both a look at the large EV it'll offer alongside (not in place of) the S-Class by around 2022, and an obvious riposte to the Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S.

The highly symbolic concept not only previews some of the design, drivetrain and manufacturing decisions that shape its next generation of products, but premieres a modular dedicated EV platform for large vehicles.

The show car blends slinky coupe-like proportions with cutting-edge exterior lighting and a minimalist screen-laden interior with shades of a Riva speedboat in different hues.

Power units at each axle cooperate through the car’s central control, giving fully variable all-wheel-drive. These drive units make a combined 350kW of power and 760Nm of torque, and run off a battery unit in the floor with a capacity of 100kWh. Mercedes cites a WLTP-certified driving range of 700km between charges, and the ability charge to 80 per cent capacity from zip in under 20 minutes on a 350kW rapid charger.

 

Biggest miss: BMW Concept 4

Evil-eyed tail lights, curvaceous flanks, wide haunches, classical proportions. Tick, tick, tick, tick.

But then you see THAT grille, which takes the sublime beyond the ridiculous. BMW's designers are either taking the piss, trolling, or confused.

If this is the face of the next 4 Series, I'm off the bandwagon.

 

Scott Collie, in Melbourne

Best production car: Land Rover Defender 90

I had some reservations about the new Defender, but it just looks awesome – especially the shorter, stubbier 90. It's a shame there's no manual, because manhandling the car from gear-to-gear is my overriding memory of the last one (mid-80s, 110 County spec, red) I drove, and a generation of buyers won't get to experience the same frustration, but that's just where the world is going.

Land Rover has done an incredible job balancing the car's heritage with the need to move forward, lovingly capturing some of the details of the original without creating a shamelessly retro-tastic nostalgiamobile. Here's hoping it drives well enough to match the hype, because I'm excited.

 

Best concept car: Hyundai 45 EV concept

The Hyundai 45 EV is surprisingly attractive, and I love the interior layout. Extra points to Hyundai for managing to find a cool, usable link to its past, too, because it has a back catalogue fraught with cars best consigned to the annals of history.

With clean surfacing, a distinct face and just enough concept technology to make nerds like me happy, it bodes well for the design of Hyundai's electric cars going forward.

 

Biggest miss: BMW Concept 4

Where to start with the BMW Concept 4. What an abomination.

For everything it does well (and there are lots of things), BMW just can't nail down its design language at the moment. The 3 Series is handsome but forgettable, the X5 and X7 have presence but lack grace, and the less said about the 7 Series LCI the better. I'd take them all over this hot mess.

Its proportions are brilliant, the colour eye-catching, but that grille is just criminal. If you're going to chase 'peak grille' and throw out the restraint that defines some of BMW's prettiest cars, bin the kidneys and start again. Stop trying to inflate what was a simple, elegant design trait. Please. Rant over.

 

James Wong, in Melbourne

Best production car: Alpina B3 Touring

I love a fast wagon, and I also love the colour green (in case you didn't already know). The new Alpina B3 Touring combines both those things and damn it looks good.

I'm already imagining the sound of a singing inline six roaring down the Autobahn at 300km/h with my kids and dog in the back – it's like heaven.

 

Best concept car: Hyundai 45 EV concept

Like the Honda Urban EV concept from a couple of years ago, I love that Hyundai has blended retro styling with new-age powertrain and infotainment technology.

The whole thing just oozes character and unlike the Honda E, which I think is a little undercooked in terms of its exterior design, I reckon Hyundai's design team could make the production version of this rather sexy.

 

Biggest miss: BMW Concept 4

The 4 Series has long been my favourite BMW because of that sexy, well-proportioned coupe design.

If the Concept 4 is any indication of what the next-gen 4 Series will look like (and BMW has a habit of staying close to its concept designs lately), it's in danger of becoming a bit of a 'prawn'.

All the fundamentals are there, cab-back side profile with muscular rear haunches, but with a nose job that belongs on Botched I may have to cozy up to the 8 Series as my favourite BMW instead.

 

Mike Stevens, in Melbourne

Best production car: Land Rover Defender

Bloody hell. I really thought the Honda e was going to take this prize, for me, but... Land Rover's managed to tick all the boxes on the "How to win over Stevo" checklist.

Honda's Urban EV concept would've had it beat, but the production e just dials down all the substance a little too much. The Defender, on the other hand, what a brilliantly loyal evolution of the DC100 concept that I adored back in 2011. And so many neat tricks and throwbacks in the design, inside and out. Well done, Land Rover.

 

Best concept car: Mercedes-Benz EQS

Extremely sleek. It'll supposedly preview a companion to the next-generation S-Class, if not the next S-Class itself. Whatever the case may be, it's a mighty fine looking thing.

Hopefully the production car keeps the overall proportions, if not the hundreds of tiny three-pointed star LED lighting.

EDIT, UPDATE: Now that it's been revealed, I also really dig the Vision Simplex concept. 

 

Biggest miss: BMW Concept 4

Look, I think it's pretty clear there's a bit of a theme to this article, judging by what I'm reading from my colleagues here. The profile and rear end are fine (if a bit dull and derivative), but that snout... holy moly. One imagines the design team has already had a bit of a chat about this miserable thing.

Still, I will admit, this is all very much the point of concepts: Throw it out there, and see what the audience thinks. I reckon they could've guessed at the response to this one easily enough, but hey, what's the harm?

 

Derek Fung, in New York

Best production car: Honda e

It's small enough to park almost anywhere, range is said to be 220km, and it has a rear-wheel drive setup that's supposedly fun to drive.

Even better, the E has a minimalist design inside and out that doesn't feel the need to shout about how goddamn sporty it is or how it'll master the Nurburgring with its eyes closed.

What's not to love? Oh, yeah, it's probably not coming to Australia or North America. Dammit.

 

Best concept car: Hyundai 45 EV concept

Sure it may have helped to put South Korea on wheels, but I'd wager not many people would've considered the 1975 Hyundai Pony as a candidate for a retro-electric do-over. If it does go into production, let's hope this one goes global.

 

Biggest miss: BMW Concept 4

It seems as though a million motoring scribes have been writing for a million years about how evolutionary each new generation of the 3 Series and 4 Series is. Sadly, the Concept 4 is BMW's riposte.

Hopefully the stunned silence will ensure the grille doesn't make it through to production.

 

William Stopford, in Brisbane

Best production car: Land Rover Defender

Any ground-up redesign of Land Rover’s iconic, sexagenarian model was always going to polarise people, especially one with monocoque construction and a touchscreen. And yet, I think they’ve nailed the brief. The new car has much of the style and off-road ability of the legendary old Defender but it’s got enough style, technology and – I’ll speculate here – on-road comfort to appeal to people like me.

I respected the old Defender but I’m too precious for such a rugged, no-compromises vehicle. The new Defender, though? I could see it in my driveway, as well as in the driveways of old Defender and Discovery owners alike.

 

Best concept car: Hyundai 45 EV concept

I love cars with lines so sharp they look like they could take out an eye. Give me a Ferrari 400, or an Alfa Romeo 159, or pretty much any 21st-century Cadillac. Add to that list the Hyundai 45 concept. Not only is it admirably angular, it looks to the past without being some blatant throwback.

It also shows Hyundai now has the confidence to reflect on their heritage and be proud of it, even if the Pony the 45 pays homage to was a thoroughly ordinary car that sold mostly on price.

 

Biggest miss: BMW Concept 4

Let it be known that I love almost all the Bangle-era BMWs. Yes, that includes the Bangle-butted E65 7-Series and the E60 5-Series with its Dame Edna headlights. I loved that Bangle was willing to take a chance on a brave new design direction that not only influenced other automakers but, I believe, has aged well. Conversely, this new design language isn’t as brave.

The 4’s lines are nice and sharp but it all feels very familiar. My issue isn’t with the big double kidneys in principle. They’re fine on something big like a 7-Series or X7 but why does this smaller car have an even bigger grille? It feels like BMW is copying what Audi first did over a decade ago and which Lexus has done better.

The Vision M Concept managed to have a big split-grille without looking like a 1972 Pontiac Grand Ville, why couldn’t the Concept 4?

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