Frankfurt Motor Show Unveil The Best For 2016

Next week at the Frankfurt Motor Show car designers and engineers will unveil their best for Y 2016 and…

Aston Martin, Cadillac, Lincoln, and McLaren, among others, will not show new products at Frankfurt this year. Those that do will use it as the vehicle to debut their best examples of the automotive art.

They will also use it to position new products for the rest of the year. Frankfurt falls before the Key North American auto shows that begin in mid-November, allowing big names like Bentley and Rolls-Royce to announce news early, and preempt North American debuts from competitors.

Bentley and Rolls, in fact, lead the pack with arguably the most anticipated models of the year debuting there: the Bentley Bentayga and the Rolls-Royce Dawn. They had a preview for VIP press at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. but had not yet been shown to the public.

Each will be iconic in its own right. The Bentayga is the long-awaited W12 SUV that is the fastest, most powerful, and most luxurious SUV in the world. Bentayga will hit 600 hp and 663 foot-pounds of torque over its 4WD, 8-speed automatic transmission. It will go to 60 mph in 4 secs and hit a top speed of 187 mph.

The Dawn is RR’s brand-new 2+2 V12 drophead that has 563 hp with the exquisite wood detailing of a million-dollar yacht. Rolls has yet to announce pricing, but expect it to be $300,000 or so.

Ferrari will show its Spider version of its turbocharged 488 GTB. The open-top exotic will have the same perfected 661-hp, twin-turbocharged, mid-mounted V8 engine as the coupe version but with a retractable roof.

The price tag will likely hit $275,000, roughly $30,000 more than the 488 GTB’s base price.

Lamborghini will offer a Huracan LP 610-4 Spyder. This is the successor to the successful Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder. It’ll have a 610-hp V10 engine and 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz will use Frankfurt to debut multiple models integral to their plans to dominate luxury volumes for 2016.

Audi will show the E-Tron Quattro Electric Concept and the European-Spec A4, most notably. (That E-Tron SUV will get a record-setting 310 miles on one charge, Audi says.)

BMW will show the 7 Series, 3 Series, and X1, while sister brand Mini will show the all-new Mini Clubman.

Mercedes will show the S-Class Cabriolet, C63 Coupe, and C-Class Coupe; sister brand Smart will debut the 2017 Fortwo Cabrio. They’re each updates to already-existing models, meant to refresh and progress the brand.

Porsche stays with its core by launching the 2017 911 Carrera. For the 1st time the car adds rear-axle steering as an option for the Carrera S, significantly enhancing its agility and speed. It will also have new headlamps, 20 more horsepower, and improved efficiency over its predecessor. Porsche says it will launch next March.

Jaguar’s new F-Pace will likely outshine all of those midlevel-luxury entrants. This is the first-ever SUV for Jaguar and the brand’s major attempt at joining the luxury SUV market that is quickly becoming crowded with offerings from the likes of Aston Martin, Maserati, Lamborghini, Tesla, and Rolls-Royce