“carmakers have been hopelessly docile against politicians who claim, against the science, that carbon dioxide is warming the planet”

Star of the Frankfurt Show is undoubtedly the new Jaguar XF, which replaces the slow selling S-type. The XF concept was first shown in Detroit in January and wowed the crowds with its adventurous body style. The production version still looks terrific, but it is not as startling a design as the concept, with less of a muscular look. The front grille doesn’t retain the 1950s jet fighter crossed with a Maserati suggestion of the original. The lines are now more like a Lexus GS, than the original’s Aston Martin.

There much talk at the show about how much manufacturers were committed to saving the environment, with a bunch of derivative cars which improved fuel consumption marginally. It remains to be seen just how well these cars go, and how many the car makers actually sell. If products like VW’s Bluemotion diesels or Opel’s ecoFLEX don’t have much get up and go, or cost too much, their sales won’t be making any contribution to saving the planet.

The car makers have been hopelessly docile in their fight against politicians who claim, against the science, that carbon dioxide is warming the planet. In their desire to try and work with a low profile against this movement, the idea apparently was to avoid causing a scene; not to offend. Mitigate not confront. Now the manufacturers face a regime in Europe that threatens to decimate their line-up of high profit margin luxury cars.

If the industry had managed to screw up a bit of courage and say climate change is clearly not caused by CO2, and therefore its products would not be changing on this account; if it had added that as sensible global citizens they realised that scarce resources like oil and gas would clearly run out one day, and; if they’d said it was in everybody’s interest to treat these resources with respect and economy and mobilise technology to find a replacement fuel, then; forcefully made the point that slashing CO2 as though it was some kind of killer disease (when its one of the staffs of life) will ruin our economies and living standards, cut a swathe of hunger and famine across the 3rd world, and have absolutely no impact on the climate, then perhaps profits could have been maintained. The non confrontational approach leads the industry down a blind alley.

Meanwhile at the Frankfurt show, the notable new cars made this point for me, with nothing remotely climate friendly at the forefront, apart from a couple of tiny city car concepts.

The Audi A4 will also be turning heads in Frankfurt with its sleek, adventurous design which eschews the old one’s bland looks. This A4 looks likely to pose a big threat to BMW’s class leading 3-series. The A4 has improved steering, but no new technology. About 75 per cent of all Audi A4s now sold in Europe are powered by diesel engines. That is likely to at least be matched by the new car.

New Chrysler decided to unveil the new Dodge Journey inFrankfurt, to underline the importance it attaches to future profits from improving sales here in Europe. Chrysler, appearing at its first major car show since splitting with its German partner Daimler, said this medium minivan crossover, which will be launched in the U.S. next spring.

The Journey is based on the Avenger sedan, and will replace the smaller version of the Chrysler Voyager. It looks much like a Dodge Caliber, with extra room at the back. The Journey will be available with five or seven seats. In Europe, it will be powered by a 2 litre 4-cylinder diesel engine, or a choice of two petrol motors, with a fuel saving six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

VW Up!
The German manufacturers can usually be relied on to carefully match launches of new big selling vehicles to their home show. Curiously, Mercedes’ only major launch was the C class wagon, although it showed lots of new technologies to chime in with the latest fad to be green. Volkswagen also failed to come up with anything really major (although of course Audi is a VW subsidiary). Attention focussed on the new VW Up!, a tiny concept car which will be VW’s first since the Beetle to have an engine in the rear, driving the rear wheels. The car is likely to be called the City Expert when it reaches dealers in 2011. The Up! is aimed at third-world markets, but VW also hopes to catch the demand in Europe for small cars which burn low amounts of carbon dioxide.

Aston Martin DBS
The Aston Martin DBS is the first new product from the British luxury sports car maker since Ford sold it for $950 million in March. The DBS will bridge the gap between the DB9 road car and the DBR9 racing car. The 510 bhp 6.0 litre V-12 DBS goes on sale early next year, priced at about $325,000.

Ford Kuga
Ford’s new medium SUV in Europe is called the Kuga as in Cougar. The Kuga, which looks uncannily like the Nissan Qashqai, another medium SUV, is based on the Focus C-Max platform and will go on sale next spring.

China
Chinese automakers were in evidence, again, although the long expected launch of cheap vehicles from the east has yet to get underway, mostly because of safety failures, but also controversies over copyright. The Brilliance BS2 was unveiled here in Frankfurt, to join its siblings the BS3 and BS4, when the Chinese manufacturer talked about how the safety issue was being addressed. No word yet on when sales will actually start, although there have been reports that the Chinese have changed tactics, and may try to sell more vehicles in booming Russia, where safety standards aren’t so strict. China Automotive also showed the CEO, which looks uncannily like a cross between the BMW X3 and X5, while the same company has a second vehicle, the UFO Jonway, an old Toyota RAV4 lookalike.

Mini Clubman
BMW’s Mini Clubman is a station-wagon version of the iconic little car, and boasts two doors on the passenger side. The second door is hinged at the rear. There is only one door on the driver’s side. “Stop-start” and regenerative braking are standard, and are available all through BMW’s range now. Sales start later this year.

Toyota IQ concept
Toyota was not launching anything major in the heartland of its big German competitors, but it did show its IQ concept, previously called the Endo. The IQ concept looks like a streamlined version of the little Smart ForTwo city car.

BMW X6, 1 Series Coupe
Another German manufacturer to fail to unveil important new mainstream vehicles was BMW, which made a big deal about its commitment to the environment, then launched the huge Sports Activity Coupe X6, based on the X5 SUV. The X6 isn’t a coupe, because it has 4 doors, but does look rakish with its cut off rear roof, which looks likely to cut into headroom and carrying capacity. There will also be a hybrid version of the X6, the first evidence of BMW’s alliance with General Motors and Mercedes. BMW also launched the 1 series coupe, which will be the first version of BMW’s entry-level car to be sold in the U.S. Sales start there next spring, with a 3.5 litre twin-turbo version, and a 3.0 litre six-cylinder car. Prices will start at close to $60,000.

Ferrari Scuderia
Ferrari is the first manufacturer to offer ceramic brakes as standard on its 430 Scuderia coupe.

Suzuki Kizashi
Concept vehicles are usually programmed to deceive the public at car shows, usually just being attempts by manufacturers to show they might be capable one day of producing eye-catching or environmentally friendly vehicles. Firmly in this tradition is the Suzuki Kizashi, a massive coupe, said to be a preview of a new car to be launched in 2009. Expect it to look nothing like this.

Peugeot 308, Renault Laguna
The French car makers came up with a couple of new products, both of which were strangely lacking in pizzazz. The Peugeot 308 looks as though a committee designed it, after being charged with making sure that it didn’t look too different from the 307 which it replaces. The 307 was a big success for Peugeot, but this new one looks dreary. The Renault Laguna is supposedly the new product which will lead CEO Carlos Ghosn’s revolution towards higher quality and profits. But it looks formless and anonymous. In this section of the market, where the competition is BMW, Audi and Mercedes, mass car manufacturers must start with a stunning design, otherwise potential buyers will not even notice them. The Renault Laguna is heading nowhere, falling at the first fence. If it does have class leading quality, nobody is ever going to know.