Big car shows on the eve of invites Volkswagen traditionally at the corporate evening to present the new products of the brands to journalists who have traveled to hundreds. The stars of the evening were, of course, the automotive innovations, which are given an oversized stage in the Frankfurt Fraport Arena and whose appearance was accompanied by complex lighting technology.
The real highlight was undoubtedly the new edition of the VW Tiguan, with which the Wolfsburg-based company ventured a little out of the Biedermann corner. The first compact SUV based on MQB (Modular Transverse Toolkit, i.e. VW's component set for models with a transversely installed engine) shines with a more dynamic look and is available in a four-wheel drive version as well as in a sportier version for the city. VW has also introduced the plug-in variant GTE, which is intended to create around 50 electrical kilometers. The battery is charged at the socket, solar cells on the roof are also supposed to provide electricity for up to 1.000 additional kilometers, provided the sun is shining.
Audi also occupied the subject of SUVs. In addition to the new A4, the Ingolstadt-based company also brought the E-tron Quattro study to the Main. Technically, the concept car marks Audi's first purely electric car, with which the Ingolstadt Tesla want to teach fear: 500 kilometers range, 400 of them after just 30 minutes of charging, are a clear announcement. Visually, the study also gives an outlook on the upcoming Q6, after all, Audi does not want to leave the SUV coupé niche to BMW and Mercedes alone. The finished Q2017 should come in 6, then maybe, like the study, with high-end lights using OLED technology and without exterior mirrors.
The crown is on the SUV segment Bentley, who want to push the Range Rover off the throne of the most distinguished off-roader with the Bentayga. The luxury liner, which is technically related to the Audi Q7, puts everything previously there in the shade: it only weighs 2,4 tons, which a 608 hp twelve-cylinder catapults to 4,1 in a whopping 100 seconds 301 km / h is the end. There are only the finest materials - 98 percent of all interior parts are leather-covered. Bentley also sets the standard in terms of price: around 200.000 euros have to be put on the table for the Bentayga.
VW Commercial Vehicles and Skoda are much closer to normal end customers. The latter presented the Superb Combi, which offers even more space than the already extremely spacious sedan. And with the Edition Panamericana, the fathers of the multivan have put a VW bus with 200 hp diesel, all-wheel drive and seven-speed dual clutch transmission on the wheels, which, thanks to the lift, is also prepared for bad roads. A similar notch is Seat's study, the Leon Cross Sport - a mixture of Leon Cupra and X-Treme; a sporty two-door with 300 hp on the one hand, which makes plastic (planks, somewhat more robust optics and all-wheel drive on Ma (ts) cho). On the one hand, the study is intended to get in the mood for Seat's SUV, which is due to arrive in spring 2016, and is also the starting signal for further model innovations by the Spaniards.
Volkswagens Supersportler, Lamborghini and Bugatti did not show up at all on the SUV trip. With the Huracán LP610-4 Spyder, the Italians are pushing the open variant of their “little one” and still relying on a soft top. And after countless variants of the Veyron, which has since been sold out, Bugatti has given the Vision Gran Tourismo a look at its upcoming super sports car at the IAA in recent years, which is probably named Chiron and should be even faster than the Veyron: with just under 1.500 PS accelerate to 100 in two seconds and reach up to 463 km / h.
The IAA study itself sees Bugatti as “a gift to all the fans” of the brand: around 70 million players in the Gran Tourismo Playstation racing simulation will be able to do fast laps in the future. The Chiron, on the other hand, will be unreachable for most: It should cost 2,2 millions of euros.
In contrast, even Porsche's scooter is likely to be a bargain. The vision that the Stuttgart company showed next to the lifted 911er is called Mission E and is Porsche's idea of an electric car that can proudly bear the company name. Visually, the study is a mixture of 911 and Panamera with a touch of VW XL1. Around 600 purely electric horsepower are said to drive the Stromer and are good for a sprint time of three and a half seconds and a Vmax beyond Tempo 250.
That alone is not rocket science, but Porsche promises a range of more than 500 kilometers in a sporty driving style. And thanks to the 800 volt connection, the battery should be 15 percent full in 80 minutes. Porsche would thus undo the Gordian knot of e-mobility, says VW CEO Winterkorn; when the technology could go into series production is still completely open. However, by 2020, the group's leader had announced 20 new models with electric or plug-in hybrid drives, thereby emphasizing VW's claim to leadership in the field of new mobility. After all, according to Winterkorn, Volkswagen was the first manufacturer to make the change in the automobile a group issue.
Author: Michael Gebhardt / SP-X