"Cars at IAA" or "Get Bored to Death"
When I got the invitation earlier this summer to IAA, I didn’t really think that I will go. First, this probably biggest car show in the world is taking place in Frankfurt, which is several hours of ride from where I live. And second – cars are not really my biggest passion (very carefully expressed). However, when I got to feel national buzz about it, I decided to still to go and see this show…
… and what a show it was! Boyohboyohboy! (Now you can imagine what effect it would produce on a true lover, follower and passionate expert of automotive industry.) With several halls showing world’s premieres and custom-made single editions as well as scientific and design experiments only in next couple in years (maybe) to appear on the market, this was a true pilgrimage to a car mecca. Everyone who was anyone in the industry had a booth or pavilion there – and I am not talking only about famous car brands, but also their suppliers, research groups as well as ‘pimps’ (pardon – tuners) who would transform you regular Mercedes M class to the one with more PS and super soft leather seats. According to McKinsey study, automotive industry came to its profits as in 2007 and this car show can only mirror this.My connections brought me first to Volvo booth, which was beautiful and which is my personal fave brand. Look just at this line...
Close after I have also seen new Toyota with a crazy disco ball Yaris as well as some nice Maseratis. The car of my dreams got to be a fine Maserati with Fendi designed seats with glitter grey/green outside polish.
However, to get to Hall 8 I got to go through the BMW hall and this was the first moment that made me out of breath. I am talking about cars and power and design and fluorescent lights and rotating messages on walls and ceiling.
You see everywhere people with some kind of mona-lisa smile (or actually a real smile) walking like in a trance through the halls and getting slowly stoned. Among the exhibits and newly founded sustainable brand BMWi, you also see the models of cars, motors and others as well as exhibit on carbon and its use – that is a whole new design and material generation. The centerpiece belongs to i3, a car of the future, symbolizing emission-free drive, innovative materials and sustainable production.
Mercedes was another brand that used maybe even bigger hall entirely for its products, but by the time I got there, as it was the last one in the row, that impressed me less than the others. (Now when I see these pics, au contraire, I would say.) One must admit that future S class F125, although still in research, is truly heartbreaking.
Being more on a functional side, I would just mention that this vehicle would completely react on regular speech and gestures to perform, if requested, maneuvers such as even overtaking other cars on the street. It also showcased its latest Smart, which was wholly devoted to the idea of sustainability and low energy consumption, with for example, solar cells on the wall.
Being more of a design person (I guess that this is obvious by now), I truly admired the design of pavilions and constellations of their exhibits. Therefore, I cannot but mention here Audi’s pavilion or, as being named in reputable daily “Ring of the Rings”.
The noble daughter of VW corporation, they have built a 100m times 70m spectacular building on a central square of the Frankfurt fair area. To provide you with some quick facts: a Munich architect office with its 20 employees worked throughout the year to produce an exhibition area including a test lane with approx. 4500 sq m and the construction started on 1st July with 170 workers at the time in order to have it everything perfect before the opening day. The idea was that the visitor should now only go through the space but also “dive in in a whole new intensity of brand experience”. There are no sharp edges, surfaces and forms melt in each other, but it is still astonishing that the building shows certain lightness by having sides tilted at certain places.
When it comes to their cars, the focus is on lightness, efficiency and reduction and their main message is “drive concept without ballast, concentrated on the pure essence of sport movement”.
The main idea of the car show was electric car and urban mobility. I will not bog you know with technical details, as these you may find elsewhere (or already know them). I will mention, though, that Volkswagen devote their “New Small Family” Up! to electro mobility, while daughters Skoda, Opel and Ford also came with new editions. Fiat showcased third generation of its bestseller Panda, Alfa Romeo with an amazing sport edition as well as Lancia, which even more resembles Chrysler line now. Tata-owned Jaguar and Land Rover also showed their new products, as well as Toyota and noble Lexus with a full-hybrid-limousine. There is simply not enough place to mention all of the brands that showcased there.
In its full beauty there were old-new Porsche classic 911 (newly designed 50-year-old classic), new Ferrari 458 Spider in flaming red (what else) with removable aluminum top as well as elegant (and also open) Bentley GTC. Friends of extreme supersport cars may breath out - Lamborghini remains in extreme league. New Gallardo has can reach up to 320 km/h.
Originally I planed to stay there until late afternoon, but as my later plans accidentally broke, I was in no rush to leave it until the very end. Needless to say, the visit was worth every single minute of it...
