Hello again, sorry for the delay in finishing the reports from Frankfurt.  Thanks to some computer gremlin (or karma) I ended up losing around 2400 pictures.  Thankfully I located some software that allowed me to recover them and will certainly do a better job backing things up in the future.  With that dilemma behind me its back to work with the remainder of the vehicles on display.  We left off with Jaguar and Land Rover so lets move into the Asian manufacturers.

And what better place to start than with my favorite concept of the show, the Kia GT.  Words alone cannot describe how stunning this car is in person.  Certainly not something I expected from Kia – which is not to say the Optima isn’t a nice looking car, because it is.  Just that this concept car oozes sex appeal, something you’d expect more from some exotic Italian company.  I know the winglets over the headlamps could never make it to production with pedestrian impact requirements, but they were totally cool.  And the accent color chosen for the DLO gave the car the look of something really expensive.

Kia GT Concept

Kia GT Concept

Kia GT Concept

If Kia was completely in fantasy land, Hyundai was the pragmatic sibling exhibiting the new i30 in production trim.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am wondering how long it will be before the headlamp stretches all the way back to the A-pillar.

Hyundai i30

Speaking of Pedestrian Impact requirements, Lexus showed their new GS450h.  The grille is shaped into a point on the two sides, which reminds me of something…. oh yeah, the cheek protectors on a gladiator helmet. 

Lexus GS450h

Lexus GS 450h

From Toyota we move over to Mazda, which showed their new CX5 Crossover, I hope the first of many new vehicles from Mazda.  Why do I hope that?  Because I am really anxious for them to rid us of the smiling fish front ends we have been exposed to over the past few years.  Mazda’s are really great vehicles, and I enjoy seeing them at the track, but since I am slow they are usually in front of me where I don’t have to see their face.  But on my way to and from the office every day, there they are in oncoming traffic.  Thank goodness it appears to be finished.

Mazda CX-5

Next to last on my list is the Subaru booth, and their XV Concept, or Impreza Outback Sport as this website identifies it.  It might not have gotten a mention here at all except for the color, which looks like screaming orange to me.  Is it a surprise that Halloween is right around the corner?

Subaru XV Concept

Finally, we ended up at the booth with the most concept cars in it, Renault.  In addition to the Friendzy, which was new for Frankfurt, there was the Captur and R-Space Concepts from Geneva.  In addition the Zoe and Twizy from Paris 2010 were also shown, although they are more pre-production than concept cars.  That gave Renault 5 non-production vehicles in their booth to go along with the production introduction of the new Twingo and Koleos.

Renault Twingo

Renault Friendzy Concept

Join us tomorrow as we start to take apart the trends and fads, from exterior to interior and everywhere in between.