Things happen in an orderly fashion in Germany. And so they do with the unveiling of new cars. The Porsche 911 most of all.
Every few years, Porsche makes enough substantial changes to its 48-year-old rear-engined sports car to categorize it as a new model. Then it begins rolling out one version after another until a couple dozen are out there, and the process starts all over again.
The collaboration between fashion houses and automakers is a longstanding tradition. Think Nautica edition Mercury Villager, Eddie Bauer edition Ford Explorer, or most recently, the Gucci edition Fiat 500. Now its big brother Maserati is getting in on the action with the Fendi edition GranCabrio – the droptop known as the GranTurismo Convertible on this side of the Atlantic.
When Aston Martin rolls in to Frankfurt next month for the first auto show of the season, it will have the largest display the company has ever mounted at a car show. And among them will be a roadgoing version of the V12 Zagato that will see production.
If you had to pick which model in the Mercedes-Benz lineup packed in the most new features, which would you choose? The S-Class? The SLS AMG? You might want to try the new B-Class on for size, because according to Daimler, its newest model encompasses the most new developments ever launched on a single vehicle.
When Audi introduces a new S model, enthusiasts sit up straight and listen. Don't even ask what happens when the German automaker rolls out two at a time, let alone three or four. But that's what Ingolstadt has in store for us in Frankfurt this year.
Once the show opens in a couple of weeks from now, we'll have a new S6 (both sedan and Avant wagon), S7 and S8 on our hands. And they're looking pretty sweet so far.
We now know what Ford is planning for the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show. The manufacturer has released a slew of photos and information on its new Evos Concept – a design study that will likely influence the look of the company's products in the near future. While we aren't likely to see many four-door gullwing hatchbacks in the Ford product line any time soon, chances are that the automaker's artists will roll in elements like smaller, more discreet headlamps, more vertical hexoganal grille and a sleek silhouette. According to Ford design guru J Mays, the new look is penned, "not to provoke, but to seduce."
Audi has released a batch of computer enhanced images of the new A2 Concept that is bound for Frankfurt Motor Show next week. The Audi A2 Concept is set to challenge the BMW i3 EV, but don’t expect it to arrive at the same time as the BMW i3 EV in 2013. Rumor has it that it won’t be available until 2015
The Audi Urban Concept hasn’t out yet, but already it has some competition waiting, and that is the ultra-compact car from Opel.
The Audi Urban Concept EV was caught on video while it was prepping for a photo shoot in Berlin, and a day later, Audi released sketches of the new Audi Urban Concept EV that is bound for the Frankfurt Motor Show next month. Today, Audi has put out a teaser video clip of this EV.
What might the 2013 Lexus GS 450h add to the additional performance goodness delivered in the 2012 Lexus GS 350? More power and more fuel efficiency, for starters. The second-gen hybrid system boots out 338 total horsepower for a 5.6-second sprint to 60 mph. That's 32 hp more than the GS 350 and a 0.1-second improvement on the stoplight run.