AS motor shows go this year’s spectacular at Frankfurt is a blockbuster – and British brands are at the fore.
Stunning designs from Jaguar, Land Rover and MINI prove that fun is back in motoring in a big way.
The drive towards low emissions may still dominate but the next generation of cars is going to be something special.
Jaguar’s sensational C-X16 ‘production ready concept’ two-seater is a perfect example.
The spiritual successor to the E-Type and described by design chief Ian Callum as Jaguar at its purist, is a high performance lightweight aluminium sports car with a hybrid petrol-electric powertrain.
It has a top speed of 185mph but its CO2 output is no more than a family saloon with its 380ps three-litre V6 engine backed up by an electric motor allowing an extra 95ps to be on tap,
The result is breathtaking looks and breathtaking acceleration of 0 to 60mph in around four seconds.
Just as special is Land Rover’s DC100 Sport – one of two concepts tipped to replace the stalwart Defender – the ultimate 4x4.
An open top three-seater with a central instrument display – just like the original Land Rover of 1948 – it is a car with ‘surfer dude’ stamped all over and well and truly aimed at the leisure market.
Its sister DC100 model is the heavy duty version which will follow Land Rover’s true go anywhere heritage.
Both could be in production by 2015 helping to secure the future of thousands of jobs at Land Rover’s factories in the Midlands and on Merseyside.
Equally important to the British economy is MINI which was showing its new Coupe at Frankfurt only weeks before the rakish looking car is due on sale.
With its steeply sloped roof the Coupe is the latest take on the classic MINI design which has recently spawned the all-wheel-drive Countryman to continue the brand’s success across the globe from its headquarters in Cowley, Oxford.
Other newcomers which will be built in Britain included Honda’s latest Civic and a new Toyota Avensis.
The Civic, to be built at Swindon, looks more an evolution of the current model but its underpinnings are all new promising to deliver an improved ride and handling while its engines have been cleaned up to cut CO2 output to as low as 110g/km.
Meanwhile the new Avensis, in family-sized saloon and estate shapes, is a bold step forward for Toyota and features the company’s latest angular face recently seen on the new Yaris hatchback.
The Avensis will be built alongside the Auris hatch at Toyota’s Burnaston factory in Derby.
UK brands were also evident at the more exotic end of the market with Aston Martin revealing its amazing V12 Zagato supercar and Bentley showing off the sensuous new Continental GTC convertible.
Bentley’s parent company, Volkswagen was out to impress its home crowd with a new city car strangely called the up! while Audi – another part of the VW group - was showing its little A2 concept electric model.
BMW was also getting in on the alternative fuel act with its latest i3 and i8 models demonstrating the brand’s shift into the battery powered and plug-in hybrid markets.
The final big hitter from Germany, Mercedes, which this year is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the moment it developed the first automobile, gave world premieres to a roadster version of the SLS supercar, the first diesel engined SLK and had the all-new B-Class medium sized people mover – on sale in Britain early next year - as the centrepiece of its display.
Other new models which are likely to become favourites with British buyers included hot ST versions of Ford’s Focus estate and Fiesta, a new Zafira MPV from Vauxhall and the world’s first diesel hybrid – a four wheel drive version of the award winning Peugeot 3008 crossover model which is said to be capable of averaging almost 75 to the gallon with tax free emissions of 99g/km.