News

 Frankfurt and Paris alternate to host Europe's largest motor show and given the current economic gloom particularly in the motor industry you would have expected a much more subdued and toned down show at the Frankfurt Messe this year. Notwithstanding the fact that Mitsubishi, Nissan/Infiniti and Honda  all decided to skip Frankfurt all the European brands were out in force with substantial displays, With a raft of new models including many green and hybrid models this year was spectacular not only in scale but also in attendance.  With 11 major halls this show would take 3 days to cover properly. Looking at the key premium brand launches

The star of the Mercedes Benz hall which was almost a motor show in itself was the new SLS. After divorce from McLaren and end of production of the flawed but magnificent SLR comes the SLS with Gullwing doors at a comparative bargain price of circa £140K.  Also on display was the prototype electric powered drive train for a future version of the SLS.  Mercedes clearly are covering all the bases what with their already significant investment in fuel cell technology. Mercedes also showed introduced the Estate version of new E –Class and the E-class coupe which replaces the CLK but moves up a notch in the range. Maybach showed its unfortunate named special edition Zeppelin which had hideous contrasting paint stripes which reminded me of a Mk 2 Ford Granada Sapphire.

The recent launched Ferrari California looked alone and forlorn as all the attention was deservedly focused on the new model Ferrari 458 Italia which is without question the best looking mid engine Ferrari for many years with styling cues from the original 246 Dino and Enzo. Michael Schumacher was there to launch the car and declare that it was actually fractionally faster around the Fiorino test track than the Enzo with a 0 to 62 time of just 3.4 seconds. The 599 and 612 Scaglietti provided the V12 powered background for the 458 Italia which for me was the star of the show.  It is this car that the new McLaren  MP4-12C road car will be competing with when it enters this £150K mid engine sector next year.

Moving on to the VW Group hall the German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a visit with a trail of reporters following the farcical mandatory sitting behind of wheel of green low emission vehicles.  She sat in the new model VW Polo which for the first time over a decade actually becomes an attractive vehicle like a scaled down Golf. Over at Audi a pointless but beautiful R8 was resplendent in polish aluminium. What was of more interest was the stunning new R8 Spyder. Only available as a V10 and with a fabric folding roof it really is the economic mid engined sports convertible at £110K is 60% of a Lamborghini Gallardo or Ferrari F430 Spider

At around the same price as theR8 spyder but with full four seat capacity, Maserati unveiled the stunning GranCabrio . Powered by a 4.7 litre V8 and with the ZF 6 speed auto this is going to be of interest to those trading up from Jaguar and Mercedes as well as down from a Bentley GTC.

Over at Aston Martin the new 4 door Rapide has been face lifted from the preproduction concept car shown at Detroit a few years ago. This is without question the most beautiful 4 door sports car in the world being a lengthened DB9 but retaining proportion and lines. Around 160K from April 2010. At around £90K the Porsche Panamera also offers 4 door sports coupe but divides opinion on looks. If you can't afford the Aston I would put my money into the Jaguar XFR is hard to beat at £60k instead.

Bentley revealed the new Bentley Mulsanne which is a handsome replacement to the Arnage with a 6.75 twin turbo V8 producing 500 horsepower. It will compete head to head with the new Rolls Royce Ghost in the £200K saloon market.

Further down in the mass-market Ford showed the new C-Max derivative of the Focus with 5 or 7 seats. A Grand C-Max adds more space and sliding side doors. Mini showing a new Mini cooper and 2 seater roadsters which join the existing range.

It was great to see the interest in Jaguar and Land Rover.  Jaguar in particular were showing the all new XJ for the first time at a major show. This bold design is a complete departure from the existing model and I believe will be a great success. Already the new 3.0 diesel XF is one of the top selling midsized executive cars. A great achievement considering where the old S Type was in the market.

Meanwhile the car market still needs finance for the consumers to buy these cars because it is really only the bottom of the market that is gaining any momentum and that is chiefly due to the scrappage scheme. Mr Mandelson there is still time to provide funding support for an industry wide consumer finance company that would stimulate the whole market place and not just increase the lead time of Hyundai's.