It’s a good job the Frankfurt motor show only comes around every other year; so large and all-encompassing is Europe’s biggest car expo that if it was any more frequent, the global motoring industry might struggle to make enough new metal to fill it.Don’t believe us? Then take a look at the sheer quantity of new cars that will star inside the two million square feet of Frankfurt’s Messe next week. Our list (below) runs to 52 new concept and production cars, ranging from the VW City Expert concept (the alleged 21st century successor to the VW Beetle) to the new, million Euro Lamborghini ‘mega-Murcielago’. Many of them are collected in our gallery. And those are just the ones we know about right now; factor in the show’s surprises (of which there are sure to be many) and the list will expand to epic proportions.Most of the cars featured in the list below are what’s known in the industry as “global premieres”; that means they haven’t appeared anywhere before, ever. A few have been shown once or twice in other far flung locations, but all of them are worthy of closer inspection by anyone interested in new cars. To read more about any one of them, click on its name below.The 62nd International Motor Show at Frankfurt opens its door to the public between 15 and 23 September, at Frankfurt’s city centre Messe. Entrance costs EUR 13 per person during the week, and EUR 15 at weekends. For more information, visit www.iaa.de.
Frankfurt show 2007: the star cars
Concept cars:
Audi Cross Coupe Quattro (it’s a Q5 underneath)BMW Concept CS (is this an M7 in disguise?)Citroen C-Cactus (shows that “ecological cars needn’t be boring”)Citroen C5 Airscape (a dead ringer for the new C5)Fiat Panda Aria (The 69g/km Fiat) Ford Verve (next year’s new Fiesta)Honda Accord Tourer concept (a preview of the next Accord saloon)Hyundai i-Blue (a new electric fuel cell car from the Korean brand)Kia Sports Coupe Concept (a hint that a Kia sportster is in the pipeline)Mercedes “luxury concept” (a space-age, super-frugal S-class)Mitsubishi Concept CX (a little brother for the Outlander 4x4)Nissan Mixim (all-wheel drive, electric supermini)Opel E-Flex (General Motors’ electric MPV of the future)Peugeot 308 RCZ (Peugeot’s answer to the Audi TT) Seat Tribu(Seat’s version of the Tiguan) Volvo’s ReCharge concept (a plug-in hybrid version of the C30 hatchback)VW City Expert (is this a 21st century Beetle?)
Supercars:
Aston Martin DBSBentley Continental GT SpeedFerrari F430 Scuderia‘New’ Lamborghini MurcielagoPorsche 911 GT2
Other performance metal:
Aston Martin DB9 LMAston Martin V8 Vantage N400Audi RS6BMW 135i coupeFiat Punto Abarth SSMaserati Quattroporte Sport GT SMercedes C63 AMGSaab 9-3 Turbo X
Premium-brand models:
Audi A4Jaguar XFMercedes C-class Estate
SUVs and MPVs:
BMW X6Dodge JourneyFord KugaInfiniti EX35Volkswagen Tiguan
Family cars:
Hyundai i30 EstateKia Pro_cee’dMazda 6Peugeot 308Renault LagunaSubaru Impreza
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