2007 Frankfurt Highlights

Gallery: On the show floor at Frankfurt

FRANKFURT, Germany - In an attempt to "out green" each other, at this years biennial Frankfurt auto show, German auto makers used their home turf to highlight new and future fuel- and emission-saving vehicles and technologies.

The majority of Canadian new car buyers prioritize fuel economy and value.

But European auto makers must also satisfy both consumer and political demand for cars with lower CO2 emissions, at the same time, guaranteeing the thousands of jobs tied to the German auto industry.

Knowing this, its understandable the local media went bonkers over Volkswagens Up! (exclamation mark courtesy of VW).

A four-seat, rear-engine microcar with two- and three-cylinder engines, VW says its Up! will get 3.0-3.5L/100 km in fuel consumption with production planned by 2011.

Volkswagen of Americas chief, Adrian Hallmark, was quoted here wanting VWs potential Smart ForTwo competitor for the U.S. market, which may include Canada as well.

Hinting at the next-generation S Class due in 2012, Mercedes-Benzs F700 Diesotto combines the dichotomy of a luxury performance sedan with subcompact fuel efficiency.

Benz says its 1.8L Diesotto gasoline four, with its novel controlled auto ignition, direct fuel injection and turbocharging, delivers 258 hp and a diesel-like 5.3L/100 km in fuel consumption.

With only 127 grams per km of CO2 coming from the F700s tailpipe, the Mercedes concept sneaks under the European Unions proposed regulations to limit CO2 emissions to 130 g/km by 2012.

Mercedes-Benz Canada also confirmed that Canadians in 2009 will be able to buy its Two Mode rear-drive hybrid system that Mercedes has developed in conjunction with BMW and General Motors in the form of its ML 450h.

Premiering as the companys first production gasoline-electric hybrid and the worlds first sports-actvity-coupéť, BMWs X6 ActiveHybrid was the German brands biggest news here.

With conventional gasoline-engines, the X6 Sports Activity Coupéťbasically an existing X5 with less rear cargo and passenger room and a higher pricegoes on sale in Canada sometime next year.

The gasoline-electric BMW X6 ActiveHybrid is projected to sip 20 per cent less fuel than its gasoline engine counterpart and will be available in Canada in 2009.

With an eye towards greener Saturns, another environmentally-friendly Frankfurt highlight was Opels Flextreme.

The third in a series of GMs E-Flex system of plug-in electric hybrids that debuted with the Chevrolet Volt in Detroit last January, the Flextreme differs in its looks and by pairing the E-Flex's electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack to a 1.3L diesel engine.

The Flextremes rear cargo hold that came loaded with two Segway scooters was for show only. But Flextremes looks will influence all future Opel (i.e. Saturn) models.

GM is counting on E-Flex vehicles to be in production by the turn of the next decade.

Without the benefit of a sexy show car, Audis e Concept was essentially a tweaked version of the new production A4 sedan that also debuted here in Frankfurt.

With some aerodynamic changes, a lower-friction manual gearbox, a new start/stop system and the ability to store kinetic energy into its gel batteries, the e Concept sports impressive numbers: 4.9L/100 km and 129 g/km from a 143 hp version of the current 2.0 turbodiesel engine.

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With environmental concerns not limited to the German border, it wasnt just the Teutonic brands anxious to show how green their future cars could be.

Inheriting its look from the sharp-skinned Toyota FT-HS super car revealed at Detroit earlier this year, unlike VWs Up!, Toyotas iQ microcar concept is front-wheel-drive.

Although what was powering the iQs front wheels wasnt disclosed.

Toyotas Smart ForTwo wannabe has a 3+1 seating arrangement, and is similar in dimension to the Yaris, except its a bit shorter.

Similar in concept to GMs E-Flex system, the Volvo ReCharge debuted as the Ford brands own plug-in hybrid.

Based on a production C30 compact, the Volvo concept marries a 1.6L flex-fuel engine connected to an auxiliary power unit , which in turn powers a set of in-wheel motors.

Volvo predicts that on a 150 km trip, the ReCharge would average 1.9L/100 km.

An all-electrical vehicle powered by a pack of high-output lithium ion batteries, Nissans Mixim concept featured a 1+2 seating arrangement with a central driving position.

Nissan claims the Mixim can do 178 km/h and can go 250 km before its batteries need to be charged.

The Mercedes R Class look-alike Hyundai iBlue has a 100 kW electric motor powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.

Apparently the iBlue badge not only identifies Hyundais Frankfurt concept, but also the Korean auto makers overall green strategy.

Mitsubishi had previously confirmed diesels part of their green strategy.

So it was no surprise the all-wheel-drive Concept cX which looks like a production-ready Lancer hatchbackdebuts a new 134 hp, 206 lb.-ft. 1.9L variable-turbine turbodiesel matched to a dual-clutch automated manual transmission.

If youre more interested in the here-and-now, dont worry, Frankfurt had plenty of production car world debuts that will make their way to Canadian showrooms sooner than later.

While debuting here in Euro-market spec only, the popular Chevrolet Aveo5 received a substantial styling refreshen inside and out.

Expect the updated Aveo5 to be on sale sometime next year.

Sticking with the small car theme, BMW showed for the first time in public both production versions of its Mini Clubman and BMW 1 Series Coupé.

The well-documented Mini Clubman is an extended version of the just-updated regular-sized Mini, but with more rear legroom, a right-hand clamshell door and two vertical doors at the rear.

The Mini Clubman hits showrooms before March, 2008.

Shortly after that, BMW Canada confirmed it will start selling two different 3.0L I6 versions of its 1 Series Coupéťthe 230 hp 128i and a 300 hp 135i.

Dodges Journey is the Chrysler brands first, truly viable compact-utility-vehicle.

Similar to the five- to seven-passenger Mitsubishi Outlander that the Dodge shares its platform with, the Journey will arrive in showrooms next year "priced competitively" with available 2.4L I4, 2.7L flex-fuel V6, and 3.5L V6 engines.

Although the rest of the world will be able to choose from five gasoline and diesel engine options, Volkswagens Tiguana five-passenger CUV with mini-Touareg looksgoes on sale in Canada next year exclusively with the ubiquitous 200 hp. 2.0L turbo four mated to either a six-speed manual or manumatic.

FWD will be standard on the Tiguan, with AWD available.

Hinting at a future Tiguan engine option, VW Canada also confirmed that the Jetta and new Jetta Wagon will receive the much-anticipated 143 hp 235 lb-ft 2.0L diesel in showrooms next spring as well.

Audi Canada confirmed that when its new A4 sedan goes on sale here by end of summer in 2008, expect the 3.2L V6 only at launch, with engine variants to follow.

No matter how desirable, most disappointing was the number of cars debuting in Frankfurt that will not be coming to Canada.

The not-ready-for-export list includes the Audi RS6 üŁber-wagen, Mercedes C Class Wagon, Honda Accord Tourer (that we might see as the next Acura TSX), Ford Kuga (imagine this instead of our hoary Escape!), and (at least in its current Euro-only guise) the Mazda6.

- John LeBlanc, Publisher, www.straight-six.com

This article originally appeared in The Toronto Star's Wheels.