Oliver Tamagnini
Latest Cool Cars and Hot Concepts
News of greater-than-expected job cuts at Opel and general jitters about the state of the auto industry aren't holding back automakers and entrepreneurs at the Frankfurt Auto Show, which kicks off on Sept. 17 and runs through Sept. 27 this year. Under bright lights and the constant spell of theme music, producers are competing to show whose model are the smallest, hippest, greenest, most luxurious—or all of the above. Provocatively clad car "presenters" smile before throngs of photographers, while waiters serve up sushi and champagne.
Green is in as never before, as carmakers trumpet how low their models' carbon dioxide emissions can go. Another 2009 theme: back to the future. Witness the reinvention of the Mini and Opel Astra, as well as the comeback of the East German classic Trabant as an electric vehicle. While the shape of the auto industry's future remains unclear, the recession seems an alternate reality within these walls. Click on for a look at some of the new cars and concepts on display this year in Frankfurt.
