The Frankfurt Motor Show – officially known in Germany as the Internationale Automobil Ausstellung or IAA for short – will open its gates on 10 of September. CarWale will bring to you in-depth coverage from the biennial auto show but ahead of that, here is a lowdown on everything we expect to show up at the German motor show.
The brand with the four rings will focus on both – e-mobility and its range of conventionally powered models. Firstly, we’ll see the AI:Trial Concept which is supposed to be an electric off-roader. Joining it would be Audi’s 2019 Formula E car – e-tron FE06.
In terms of conventional models, Audi will debut the new RS7 Sportback, which will surely make its way to India. It will be the second of the six RS models after the RS6 Avant slated to arrive by the end of 2019.
Also part of Audi’s line-up are - the A4 and Audi Q7 facelifts, A1 city carver, the all-new Q3 Sportback and the recently revealed A5 and S5 models.
At the Frankfurt stage, BMW has scheduled many public debuts which includes – new-gen X6, 3 Series Touring, updated X1, new-gen of the 1 Series and all-new 8 Series Gran Coupe, and the M8 pairs. BMW’s bespoke models like the X6 Ventablack and the X5 VR6 Protection will also grace their presence.
Moreover, there will be a host of BMW’s plug-in hybrid variants but the eye-ball grabbing is likely to be the Vision M Next Concept which previews the future of M cars.
The M4 Heritage edition, which is the last hurrah of the last-gen model, will also be present. But we don’t expect the new-gen G20 M3 to break cover at the Frankfurt stage.
BMW-owned Mini brand will showcase its first-ever electric car – the Cooper SE EV.
Ford will bring in their revamped European line-up, but what we are expecting to see is the all-new Puma. The resurrected moniker now sits on a crossover which is smaller than the Kuga but bigger than the EcoSport. Ford might also spring surprise by bringing in the ST or other high-performance versions of the Puma which was spotted testing lately.
Honda’s cutesy little electric hatchback, christened as 'e', will make its first-ever public debut in the production guise. Interestingly, not much has changed on the electric hatch over the concept showcased a couple of years ago. It retains most of its exterior and interior elements with the only changes being the absence of external screens and wheels.
The Korean carmaker has a sleuth of new reveals planned for the Frankfurt show. Firstly, there’s a new concept called 45 that will preview the design language of the brand’s future electric vehicles. Joining it will be the new all-electric racecar based on the Veloster N. Apart from these two, we’ll also get to see the new versions of the i30 including the i30 N Project C – a limited edition version with lightweight parts.
Hyundai will also showcase the Euro-spec i10 which is the international version of the recently launched Grand i10 Nios. The major differences are in the fascia and overall length but the cabin and rest of the design remain identical to the Nios.
After what feels like an eternity, we’ll get to see the new-generation Defender. And adding to the drama, the British carmaker will be driving down the new-gen Defender from Kazakhstan to Frankfurt. Much is being talked about the legendary 4x4 already.
The Raging Bull has put its foot down on its electrification programme with the reveal of the first-ever hybrid – the Sian. Although it’s a mild-hybrid with 48Volt system bolted on to the iconic V12, the Sian is the most powerful Lamborghini till date with 809bhp on tap and a top speed of 350kmph.
Similar to other German carmakers, Mercedes-Benz will have a long line-up of cars at the Frankfurt stage. Relevant to us will be the new-gen GLA-Class which will reportedly break cover at Frankfurt. Apart from that, we’ll see all the updated vehicles including A-Class, B-Class, CLA, GLC, V-Class, GLE Coupe, GLS, and the other AMG-spec version.
From the newly formed EQ sub-brand, Mercedes will showcase the EQS Concept which will preview the flagship electric sedan equivalent to the S-Class. Joining it will be the EQV electric MPV based on the V-Class.
Mercedes-owned Smart brand will showcase their updated line-up of the ForTwo and ForFour along with the EQ versions of both the compact-runabouts.
From the Affelterbach, the electric Porsche Taycan will make its public debut. The first-ever pure electric Porsche has a Turbo in its name, but we’ll be looking forward to the car which will have an actual turbo in its powertrain - the 992-gen 911 Turbo. Porsche could be generous and also give us the GT3, but nothing has been confirmed at the moment.
At the Skoda’s stand, there will be the two cars wearing the Monte Carlo guise and grabbing the most eyeballs. The Kamiq crossover and Scala supermini got the uber-cool Monte Carlo treatment and will make their first debut at Frankfurt. Also on display will be the Superb facelift.
Apart from these, there are reports of Skoda taking the covers off the updated Octavia. The highest selling model in Skoda’s line-up will get Superb-inspired changes both fore and aft and on the inside. After its global debut – which might happen at the German auto show – the Octavia facelift will shortly make its way to India.
Last but not least, Volkswagen will punch out two surprises at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show. First, the new, eighth-gen Golf will break cover after a long wait. Adopting evolutionary changes both inside and out, the Mk8 Golf is expected to set new benchmarks like all its previous versions. Sharing the stage with it will be the first-ever production-spec electric ID vehicle – the ID.3. The Golf-sized electric hatchback has already garnered thousands of bookings and will also set new benchmarks in the segment that it will pioneer.
Stay tuned to CarWale for more information from the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show.
