For the world’s biggest motor show to deliver no alarms and no surprises during a year widely accepted as the European automotive industry’s worst ever, echoes the sector’s overriding cautious mood. It’s time to adapt, and become profitable at lower volumes, but it’s also more important than ever to develop great products that can be successful the world over.
Almost everything launched at Frankfurt this year has been heavily trailed or seen before, either at smaller, niche events (Porsche’s 918 Spyder at Pebble Beach; BMW’s recent three-city i3 launch), or in close-to-production concept form (BMW i8). Almost everything that was said followed the script; and almost everyone who was supposed to be there, was there. Indeed, perhaps the biggest surprise at Frankfurt this year was Sergio Marchionne’s decision to not attend.
BMW’s Norbert Reithofer said the IAA is the world’s most important car show, so it’s no coincidence that it takes place in Germany. In no other country, he said, does the automotive industry play such an important role in economic growth, employment and society. With a general election later this month, Reithofer’s comments were clearly intended to remind politicians of the need to support their national industry.
On the morning of the first public day, Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, passed the countless election billboards outside the show ground bearing her photo – and those of her political opponents – on her way in to officially open the show. Volkswagen’s media machine took advantage of her presence on its stand to invite her to sit alongside Martin Winterkorn inside a Volkswagen e-Golf.
The 2013 IAA also saw the rollout of ‘EV 2.0’ finally get under way. Sure, Renault’s Zoe joined the Nissan Leaf earlier this year as a mainstream pure EV product, but only when Volkswagen makes a pure battery EV version of the Golf can it be said that the EV race has truly begun. Interestingly, the e-Golf is expected to have a sticker price of €35,000. That’s the same as BMW’s all-new i3, and €4,500 cheaper than the electric Focus, presenting potential buyers with an interesting, if not simple, buying decision.
It wasn’t only about mainstream EVs: a significant role was played by luxury performance hybrids, including the aforementioned i8 and 918 Spyder; Audi (Sport Quattro gasoline-electric plug-in hybrid concept) and Honda (NSX concept) clearly want in on this game too.
OEMs also used the IAA to show that they haven’t ignored certain burgeoning segments. Jaguar (C-X17), Infiniti (Q30) and Lexus (LF-NX) would resolutely deny that their compact SUV concepts were in any way me-too products, but none currently has an offering in this growth segment – and it’ll be a couple of years before any of them comes to market.
Still, there was nothing genuinely unexpected, and the lack of real excitement from the car companies gave suppliers the opportunity to capture more of the limelight than usual. This was best exemplified by Valeo’s live demonstration in a specially-made car park of its Park4U self-parking car technology.
Behind the scenes, executives fielded endless media questions about the current state of the European automotive industry. Rather than bullish statements, we heard carefully delivered words like stability, and slow, long-term growth.
There may not be much growth, but there’s plenty of optimism. The problem child is Europe, said Reithofer. There may be troubles ahead, he said, but it’s time to decide whether these are seen as problems or as opportunities. We should focus on our strengths, he said, and use the IAA to send to the world a positive message on behalf of the automotive industry.
Martin Kahl is the Editor of Automotive World
This article first appeared in the Comment section of AutomotiveWorld.com. For more expert insights and analyses of the global automotive and commercial vehicle industries, visit automotiveworld.com/comment.
