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Implications: The 68th Frankfurt Motor Show
kicks off next week with a number of key and eagerly awaited new
models, as a number of important new EVs and crossovers take center
stage.
Outlook: Among the key new models launched will
be the new VW ID. 3 which will lead the flood of EVs that the brand
is planning to launch over the next few years. This car will be
extremely important to the future of the brand and needs to present
a compelling vision of an affordable and useable EV.
The 68th Frankfurt Motor Show gets under way next week with a
compelling mixture of new launches, including important
production-ready electric vehicles (EVs), imaginative concepts and
a selection of new versions of high-volume 'bread and butter' core
models. As is inevitable at a major global auto show these days,
there will also be a high number of sport utility vehicle (SUV) and
crossover launches.
There will be a bit of something for everyone on display at the
show. The OEMs have one eye on driving sales in the short term with
a raft of SUV/crossover launches and core models like the all-new
Opel Corsa. And there is an acceleration into the uncertain future
in terms of mainstream and high-end EV launches, best exemplified
by the new VW ID.3 and the Porsche Taycan. It is hard to overstate
how important both these cars are for their respective
manufacturers. VW needs the ID.3 to present a compelling choice for
buyers that would never before have even considered buying an EV, a
true electric people's car. It is also spearheading the VW
passenger car brand's hugely ambitious overall EV strategy, so it
needs to be 'right' straight out of the box, with none of the
quality issues that have affected other high-profile EV launches
recently.
The Taycan is equally important to Porsche. As a brand that
prides itself in making some of the best handling and dynamic cars
in the world it needs to show that EVs can be dynamic as well.
Although premium EVs are already known for the party trick of
massive and hugely rapid straight-line acceleration, their sheer
weight has thus far limited their appeal as pure drivers' cars.
Porsche is hoping to change this with the Taycan. The new Opel
Corsa is an important car too. Its sales tailed off badly in recent
years as the outgoing one has grown long in the tooth against newer
and more advanced opposition. The new Corsa will be a major test of
PSA's ownership of Opel and Vauxhall. It will be built completely
on PSA architecture and use PSA powertrains. Given the short
gestation of the model following Groupe PSA's takeover in August
2017, Opel appears to have done a good job of differentiating the
car from the closely related new Peugeot 208. It will also be a key
test of the overall strategy that PSA has with Opel and whether it
can generate the kind of R&D and purchasing economies that will
make the acquisition a success.
Posted 03 September 2019 by Tim Urquhart, B.A., Principal Analyst, Automotive, IHS Markit
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