And one more edition of the world’s most famous car show has arrived. The German event is once again filled with nothing but the best of what this industry offers in nowadays, side-by-side with lots of concept cars whose main function, besides dazzling everyone who stares at them, is to take a guess on what will be a part of the car’s concept in the next few years. This special article features quick notes about the most important releases shown there, along with links to the ones whose full articles were already published at this blog. Enjoy!
Abarth Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Citroën Chevrolet Ferrari Fiat Ford Honda Hyundai Jeep Kia Lamborghini Lancia Land Rover Lexus Mazda Mercedes-Benz Opel Peugeot Renault Seat Škoda Toyota Volkswagen Volvo
595 50th Anniversary: Why would you think Fiat’s supermini would miss an opportunity to receive a new special edition? This time the spotlights go to celebrate the sporty 595: this series will have only 299 units produced, with sales starting on next 15th just like the original one did, in 1963. The exterior brings aerodynamic kit and special two-tone paint with Abarth’s symbols, while the cabin features the same red-and-white at the leather seats. This car brings a T-Jet 1.4L engine with 180 hp.
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Complete articles: MiTo 2014.
Giulietta 2014: The Italian hatchback received the same updates as MiTo’s for 2014. Instead of changing too much and taking the risk of achieving a bad result, the exterior features nothing but redesigned front grille and fog lights, and new options of external colors and 16”, 17” and 18” wheels. The bigger updates were performed at the cabin, which shows new coating options, renewed steering wheel and Uconnect infotainment system with 5.5” or 6.5” touchscreen. There will be also the JTDM 2 2.0L diesel engine, with 150 hp.
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Complete articles: Vanquish Volante.
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Complete articles: A3 Cabriolet, A8, A8L and S8 2014.
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Continental GT V8 S: VW Group’s high-luxury division will appear at Frankfurt with a new version of its famous couple of sports cars. Coupé and cabriolet still use their V8 4.0L, but it was re-tuned to deliver extra 21 hp and reach 521 hp. There are new wheels and some structural changes such as lowered ride height, stiffer suspension and new dampers, everything working to enable going from 0 to 96 kph in 4s5 and to a 309-kph top speed. This version has 805-km range and average consumption of around 9.5 kpl.
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Complete articles: 4-Series, i3, X5.
X5 M50d: The distance between sporty and ecological vehicles is getting each time shorter. The German SUV received Motorsport’s works as a diesel high-performance version. M50d repeats the car’s huge equipment list combined to 19” wheels and the six-cylinder 3.0L, in order to deliver 381 hp of power and impressive 546 lb-ft of torque. Such numbers are controlled with AWD by an eight-speed automatic gearbox and let X5 go from 0 to 96 kph in 5s3 along with making 14.9 kpl and emitting 177 g/km of CO2.
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Complete articles: Grand C4 Picasso.
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Spark Bubble Edition: Special editions must be the quickest way of bringing the spotlights back to a car. Chevrolet’s supermini, for instance, could’ve done it only with the exclusive external blue with white 15” alloy wheels and bubble stickers, but there’s more to see: the cabin adds synthetic leather seats and more blue accents, this time from the doors to the central console in order to match the digital displays’ color. Since this seems pretty capable to make Spark stand out of the crowd, there weren’t any deeper changes.
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458 Speciale: The most powerful V8 engine ever produced by this automaker. How about starting to talk about Speciale like this? The exclusive external paint hides the upgraded aerodynamic kit, which includes active spoilers in both front and back: their position is changed according to the car’s speed in order to bring the most adequate air pressure for each moment. This 605-hp propeller is helped by an electronic differential and takes a 90-kg lighter Ferrari, which became able to reach 100 kph in 3s and 200 kph in 9s3.
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Freemont Black Code: While Dodge Journey has a Blacktop version, the Italian twin returns to the spotlights with a new upscale version based on the same color. There’s piano-black at front grille, headlights and the 19” alloy wheels, which are paired to a complete interior with heated leather seats and Uconnect once again, with an 8.4” LCD touchscreen. This special edition will offer the Multijet II diesel 2.0L (170 hp) and the Pentastar V6 gasoline 3.6L (280 hp), the first with front-wheel-drive and the second with AWD.
Panda 4x4 Antarctica: Fiat couldn’t celebrate this hatchback’s birthday without exposing the version which made most of its success during all this time. Panda turns thirty combining the 4x4 variation to the exclusive logos and a nice two-tone decoration, including orange at several internal accents, the exclusive 15” wheels and even the rearview mirrors’ covers. With sales expected to start still in this year, the Italian “tough” supermini will be offered the turbocharged TwinAir 0.9L (85 hp) or the Multijet II diesel 1.3L (75 hp).
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Complete articles: Civic Tourer, Fit.
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Complete articles: i10.
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Wrangler Polar: This Jeep’s Unlimited version was taken as the starting point of a special edition which will be sold only in Europe. The external Hydro Blue is as exclusive as the 18” black-piano wheels and the fender stickes with Vostok’s geographic coordinates – the Antarctic city holds the record of lowest temperature in the world. This Wrangler will offer bigger standard and optional equipment lists and two engine options: the V6 3.6 generates 284 hp, while the turbocharged diesel 2.8L delivers 200 hp.
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Soul 2: The stylish crossover’s second generation will arrive in Europe with several minor differences from the North-American variation. New bumpers with more aggressive design, some exclusive piano-black external accents and new headlights and wheels contribute to make this Soul more inspired on off-road vehicles than the original one. There isn’t any information concerning powertrain yet, but it’s already known that the overseas brother uses six-speed manual or automatic gearboxes and two GDI engines: 130-hp 1.6L or 164-hp 2.0L.
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Gallardo LP 570-4 Squadra Corse: Approaching its eleventh year of production is what makes this car’s fans receive each of its latest special editions with sadness – any of them could be its last one. This time the Italians took inspiration from the Super Trofeo competition brother, using a new rear spoiler which generates three times more downforce than LP 560-4’s. There are carbon-fiber hood, sporty seats and several other lightweight items in order to enable the 570-hp V10 to reach 96 kph in 3s4 and a 320-kph top speed.
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Voyager S: If Fiats are too small, Maseratis too expensive and you don’t want to go to the U.S., the Italian-American group still has a marque which can suit your preferences very well. Chrysler Town & Country’s European sister enhances Lancia’s elegant style this time with a set of 17” wheels with piano-black accents, just like the renewed front grille. Voyager’s cabin follows the exterior’s discretion by adding black leather coating. This edition can be purchased with a turbocharged diesel 2.8L of 178 hp or Pentastar V6 3.6L of 283 hp.
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Discovery 2014: Don’t let the redesigned front bumper and the new wheels bring you down; Discovery will enter its 25th year with many more internal than external changes. The V6 3.0L maintained both its power and torque numbers, but received updates in order to become “greener”: the average consumption is 12.3 kpl, while CO2 emissions were reduced to 213 g/km. There’s only an eight-speed automatic transmission, which helps this SUV to reach 180 kph of top speed. Its standard equipment list became bigger, too.
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Complete articles: GX.
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Complete articles: Mazda3.
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Complete articles: GLA, S-Class.
S500 Plug-in Hybrid: This is the sedan to take if you’re too concerned with the environment to choose any of the AMGs. The combustion engine is a bi-turbo V6 3.0L of 328 hp, which is combined to an electric unit of 107 hp in order to achieve impressive 33,3-kpl consumption and 69-g/km CO2 emissions. This sedan has four driving modes, from 100% electric to charge the battery while driving. The hybrid line will also have S400 (V6 3.5L, 306+27 hp, 15.9 kpl, 147 g/km) and S300 BlueTec (diesel 2.2L, 204+27 hp, 22.7 kpl, 115 g/km).
S63 AMG: Mercedes wouldn’t wait too long to give its brand new flagship vehicle its first sporty variation. The new S63 arrives just like it’s expected from AMGs, such as more aggressive aerodynamic kit, 19” wheels and four exhaust tips. Under the hood, this sedan presents a bi-turbo V8 5.5L whose 585 hp are combined to the seven-speed Speedshift MCT transmission with three driving modes and an optional AWD system. There are several “green” technologies to help it achieve average 10-kpl consumption and 237-g/km CO2 emissions.
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Complete articles: Insignia 2014.
Insignia Country Tourer: Whether under Opel or Vauxhall badges, GM’s European luxury SW is now ready to travel through asphalt-free paths. Just like Audi Allroad or Volvo XC70, Insignia receives some elegant off-road visual accessories, but restricts the bigger changes to the inside: Haldex’s electronic AWD system can redirect the entire torque or none to any axle, according to the request. There will be three 2.0L turbocharged engines, between gasoline and diesel, and five-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.
Insignia OPC Sports Tourer: This facelift also made Insignia the most powerful Opels ever produced. This is achieved with their brand new OPC version, which brings exclusive bumpers, spoilers and wheels, while the interior adds sporty steering wheel, Recaro racing seats, 8” touchscreen and a new ESP. Both chassis and rear axle were adjusted for reducing vibration and noise. Sedan and station wagon use a turbocharged V6 2.8L of 325 hp with Haldex AWD system, which takes them from 0 to 96 kph in 6s and to 270 kph of top speed.
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Complete articles: 3008 2014, 308, 5008 2014.
RCZ R: Do you remember that stunning concept-car showed at the time of RCZ’s facelift, last year? Well, this time the real thing has arrived. There are 17-kg lighter weight, 10-mm lower ride height, 380-mm brake discs and new spoiler and differential. The cabin adds Alcantara seats, sporty steering wheel and aluminum accents. The best feature, though, is the THP engine once again: the turbocharged 1.6L was reworked to generate 270 hp, which is enough to take this gorgeous coupé to 96 kph in less than six seconds.
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Complete articles: Mégane 2014.
Latitude 2014: The luxury sedan received a minor facelift for the new year, restricting most of the external updates to the front fascia: the new headlights brought daytime LEDs, the front grille became bigger and more elegant with the chrome finishing, and the bumper was slightly redesigned. The rear, in turn, has added LEDs to the tail lights. The new Latitude is expected to carry over both dCi 2.0L (150 hp or 175 hp) and V6 3.0L (240 hp) engines, but they might be joined by the TCe, turbocharged 180-hp 1.6L.
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Complete articles: León ST.
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Complete articles: Rapid Sportback.
Rapid StylePLUS: The compact sedan once again shows itself as a good deal in its category, with this new trim level which invests at the appearance: there are several external parts painted in piano-black, two-tone 17” alloy wheels, active fog lights and even xenon headlights. The cabin has received leather accents, steel pedals, exclusive seats, Amundsen navigator and improved audio system. As usual, Rapid will offer TSI engines with gasoline and TDI with diesel, going from 75 hp to 122 hp. Transmissions can be manual or DSG.
Yeti 2014: This automaker’s line should be taken as an example of how utility cars can satisfy their public’s needs without settling for uninspired designs. Škoda has boosted Yeti’s style with new bumpers and redesigned lights, composing a much more modern look which is followed by the new LED tail lights. There will be new wheels, but the interior isn’t expected to change much: it still follows VW Group’s typical discreet combination of black and chrome. The powertrain options shall stay untouched, too.
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Complete articles: Land Cruiser.
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Complete articles: e-up!, e-Golf, Golf GTI, Golf R.
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