Frankfurt motor show 2009: A-Z of news, reviews and the CAR live blog

By Tim Pollard, Ben Pulman and Phil McNamara

Motor Shows

15 September 2009 01:30

Welcome to CAR Online's coverage of the 2009 Frankfurt motor show, the world's biggest car show. The CAR team is reporting live from the 63rd Frankfurt show on Tuesday 15 September 2009 – and this is your handy guide with previews and reviews, news and blogs, photos and galleries of all the important new launches. Follow the CAR live blog by for 24/7 news and updates by clicking on the jump below.

CAR Online's A-Z preview of the 2009 Frankfurt motor show

• Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari
• Alfa Romeo Mito Cloverleaf
• Aston Martin Rapide
• Audi A5 Sportback
• Audi R8 Spyder
• Audi R8 Electric
• Bentley Mulsanne
• BMW EfficientDynamics supercar concept
• BMW 5-series GT
• BMW 320d EfficientDynamics
• BMW X1
• BMW ActiveHybrid X6 / BMW ActiveHybrid 7
• Citroen Revolte
• Citroën C3
• Citroën DS3
• Ferrari 458 Italia
• Fiat Punto Evo
• Ford C-Max
• Hyundai ix35
• Hyundai ix-Metro
• Jaguar XJ
• Kia Ceed facelift
• Kia Sorento
• Kia Venga
• Lamborghini Reventon Roadster
• Lexus LF-Ch
• Maserati Grancabrio
• Mazda CX-7 facelift
• Mazda MX-5 Superlight
• Mercedes E-class Estate
• Mercedes SLS AMG
• Mercedes Vision S500 Plug In Hybrid
• Mini Coupé Concept
• Peugeot RC Z
• Peugeot 5008
• Peugeot i0n
• Porsche 911 GT3 RS
• Porsche 911 Turbo
• Porsche 911 Sport Classic
• Renault's four electric cars
• Rolls-Royce Ghost
• Saab 9-5
• Seat Leon Cupra R
• Skoda Superb estate
• Toyota Auris Hybrid, Prius Plug-in Hybrid, Land Cruiser and iQ
• Toyota Land Cruiser
• Vauxhall Astra
• VW 1L
• VW E-Up
• VW Golf R
• VW Polo 3dr
• Volvo C30
• Volvo C70

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Frankfurt motor show 2009 CAR blog

The CAR live blog filed straight from the show floor at the Frankfurt motor show by CAR staffers Tim Pollard (TP), Phil McNamara (PMc) and Ben Pulman (BP), as well as CAR Online reader Mark Hamilton (Car4mh). Top tip: start at the bottom and scroll your way up in blog format. All times are local Frankfurt time (BST +1)

TUESDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2009

9.40am:

BP Choosing not to walk Tim's told me about BMW's press shuttles, a fleet of white EfficientDynamic cars that shuttle us between huge halls. In the interest of saving my legs i hitch a ride in a 3-series towards hall 5 to hear from Tesla.

9.24am:
BP Mini's big birthday BP boss Ian Robertson shouts 'Let's Mini'  and steps aside as a huge blow-up birthday cake floats upto reveal the company's two new concepts. Both areconfirmed for production in Oxford, but no dates are given.  

8.40am: BMW starts the day
BP Bmw has built an oval track around it's hall, so company boss Klaus Draeger (boss of BMW's development programmes) arrives at high speed in 5 GT. Then we get a brown X1, new Efficient Dynamics 320d, the 7 and X6 hybrids and finally the stunning Vision sports car concept. No mention of the M versions of the X5 or X6, because this BMW presenting it's clean and green side

8.30am: BMW kick off the IAA
TP A Vision EfficientDynamics silently glides round the BMW bowl that rings the BM stand. Norbert Reithofer tells us of his plans for the new 'Megacity' clean small car, yet he also points out BMW sell more 4x4s than any other premium marque. Unlikely bedfellows? Am sitting next to CAR reader Car4mh - we missed the first bit of the press conference because the translator was late - arrived halfway through the show, amusingly out of breath! The EfficientDynamics looks awesome: fresh, different, new. A 1.5-litre turbodiesel supercar? Very apt for our times...

8.15am:
BP Survived my taxi journey to the show in a Zafira (not as roomy as the Sedona in the back) but i've been dropped at the wrong end.That means a mile-long walk to the BMW stand for the first press conference of the day, talking and taking orders from Tim the whole way. 

2.30am: Time to finish uploading
TP Feeling a bit frazzled from all the uploading. Our man at the VW party has just finished sending his pictures over; if you're wondering why the homepage is a bit VW Group-tastic tonight, it's because they have a pre-show soirée where they unveil their cars before doing the same thing all over again in the morning. Strange, but true. I'm meeting CAR Online reader Car4mh at 8.00am at the show and need some kip before the big day. All those horror stories about the Frankfurt motor show are true: it must be four or five times the size of the Birmingham NEC and is frankly way too big. I remember a journalist died at my first Frankfurt show in 1999 from heat exhaustion. Best have a glass of water before bed!


MONDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2009

10.45pm: Back to the hotel
TP Motor shows sound glamorous,but believe me they're not in this digital age. It's back to the Mac to upload this evening's goings-on.

9.50pm: The Volkswagen group shindig
PMc Just seen the Bugatti Mulsanne for the second time after a sneak preview up at Crewe a few weeks back. But I'm far more interested in what Bentley (and Bugatti) boss Franz-Josef Paefgen is driving here, as he glides onto stage in a tiny yellow car. It's an ancient electric Bugatti that's been served up from the guts of an archive somewhere. Must have a closer look. Hard to reconcile this Ever Ready museum piece with a Veyron!

7.40pm: Downtown Frankfurt and a Lagonda
TP En route to a dinner with some industry types and I spot what must be the Aston Martin party. There's a wedgy slice of automobilia called the Lagonda parked outside a hotel in downtown Frankfurt, with a gaggle of latter-day Astons nearby. Looks v v far removed from that 4x4 thing we saw at Geneva. I do hope they get this Lagonda revival thing right – we plan to ask the question tomorrow.

6.45pm: The Sedona Express arrives
BP Think I might have picked the short straw. While associate ed Pollard and editor McNamara flew over to Germany, I drove in a revised Kia Sedona. But we've covered the miles quickly and are now in Frankfurt, although I have no idea where. That's sat-nav for you.

5.17pm: Blue Ovals checks in
TP Am out here on a Ford ticket, so just flown over with a gaggle of journalists. Ex-Ford bigwig Martin Leach was sitting behind me on the plane but was deep in conversation for the whole flight. I'd be intrigued to hear his views on the Magna takeover of Opel/Vauxhall, as Leach has experience of working with Russian firm Gaz. Hey-ho.

2.53pm: Bugatti's four-door concept

PMc Slightly roundabout route to Frankfurt, stopping off in Molsheim for a VIP preview of Bugatti's new car. It's a four-seat, five-door car, conceptually quite close to its Panamera stablemate. But with the Veyron's 16 cylinder engine, it will be even more rapid, the world's quickest four-seater no less. The grille, surfacing and lamps link it to the Veyron, the rear end is inspired by the legendary 57S Atlantic. The car won't be shown at Frankfurt, although a customer roadshow has already begun. Time to get to Frankfurt, sadly by train not Veyron...