Hello everyone and welcome to the IAA 2017 in Frankfurt. The show, one of the biggest in the world.
Very important, and as usual we kick off with the Volkswagen party on the night before the first press day.
All kinds of news from the Volkswagen Group. Of course a lot of autonomous news,
but you can overdo it...
The Volkswagen party was kicked off by a speech by Matthias Müller, the big boss behind Volkswagen since Winterkorn and his departure because of the Dieselgate.
Müller went on and on about their fault in the Dieselgate. They're very sorry and they're going to improve themselves.
A lot of promises, but they're statements which do carry weight.
He also said one of the four Volkswagen sold in 2025, will be fully electric.
In 2030 however, Volkswagen aims to have a fully electric version of every model available as well.
And this is their aim being put into practice, the I.D. Crozz.
Earlier, we already saw the I.D. A C-segment car, a future Golf-like car.
Fully electric. It would be available as a Bus and a Crozz.
This is the facelifted Crozz, and it's now closer to its production version.
It's scheduled to reach markets in 2020, together with the I.D.
The Bus will arrive in 2022. This car will be able to do 500 kilometres according to the standard.
Besides the electrical presence, Volkswagen hasn't forgot their diesel-cars.
Even though there have been some issues with Volkswagen-diesels in the past, Müller said it himself: we still need combustion engines,
only if they just were to make money for the electrical revolution.
Take this Amarok, this Aventura Concept. It's just a regular Amarok with a 3.0-litre V6.
Only now it produces 258 horsepower. A new variant for an existing diesel.
If you like camping, because I personally prefer the gulag over camping,
but if you like camping, check out this California XXL.
It's enormous.
Seat really goes to town with the Leon Cupra R. An even faster Leon producing 310 horsepower.
Of course, that isn't groundbreaking to us, because our importer already chiptuned the Leon once.
So it already was available with 310 horsepower. Now though, it can also produce 310 horsepower in factory spec.
The car will have a limited production. Only 799 will be built.
You can recognize it by the copper accents, a lot of carbon fibre,
the front wheels have more camber... It's got a special chassis,
a lot of power, alcantara on the inside.
In short: a very special Leon.
The Porsche 911 GT3 already received a facelift in Geneva, when it went from a 3.8-litre to a 4.0-litre engine.
But the fun part today, this is the Touring-pack.
What immediately stands out is that the huge wing has disappeared. Instead, a very discreet spoiler is now fitted,
which automatically rises when it's needed.
Other than that, there are some new details on the inside.
Because it's again another variant on the 911-concept. It's sure to receive a lot of praise from enthusiasts.
At Porsche, we also find the new Cayenne.
We've already seen it for the magazine, you might've read about it.
Now we've got it on video for the first time. It's a car which really looks like its predecessor,
and that's quite the revolution. You can barely tell the difference,
but it's still bigger, it's got more luggage space, it's got a better equipped standard trim,
so it's more practical. The chassis has been refined even more,
so there's more sportiness and comfort at the same time.
Soon, we'll be able to drive it. Now, we can just look at it.
Last year, the Aventador S arrived. Just a facelifted version of the Aventador really.
Now it's time for the Roadster, and here it is.
It produces 740 horsepower, so you can do 350 km/h without a roof.
Just feel that on your head.
Skoda also aims to have a fully electric SUV available in 2020. We already saw the first concept of the Vision-E in Shanghai.
They've developed it since then, so here it is.
The interesting part, it's on the MEB-platform.
That's going to be the MQB-platform for all of the electric Volkswagen-vehicles.
Audi then. They have the Aicon on display, this concept car.
The remarkable part is that it doesn't have a steering wheel, or pedals for that matter.
That's because this car has reached autonomous level 5. That means you'll be driven around.
You don't have to anything, you just have to sit down.
On the inside, it's designed like a living room.
The seats turn around, the screens around you don't tell you how fast you're going anymore,
because that isn't important to you anymore. Instead, you could watch movies.
It really is fully autonomous, so that's their vision into the far future.
The headlights are very small, almost rudimentary.
Because who'll need headlights in the future, the computer already knows where it's going.
If you think you've seen an evolution in the Cayenne, take a look at the Bentley Continental GT.
It's the third generation, and again you think what are the differences.
It's remarkable how they've been able to make such a classic design into a modern car.
It's even wider, it's longer, it's stretched, it's become even tougher.
More than 100 square feet of wood has been incorporated in the interior, just so you know.
The W12-engine produces 626 horsepower and 900 Nm of torque. But, thanks to cylinder deactivation and a sailing function, it can be a little bit economical.
Another Audi-concept then. This might look familiar to you,
because in China they presented the e-Tron Sportback Concept. In essence, that was the same body,
but it now has hardware and software fitted. That way, it's able to drive autonomously on level 4.
It isn't as autonomous as the car we just saw, but it can do a lot of stuff by itself.
That technique is now fitted in this car, so this is a vision for a closer future.
Alright, enough of the autonomous and electrical stuff, let's get back to basics: petrol.
An Audi R8 has four-wheel drive, which, according to purists, doesn't really cut it.
This one however, doesn't have four-wheel drive. That's right, this is a rear-wheel drive R8.
That makes it a purer car. It's lighter as well.
So combined with 540 horsepower, it's a really quick car with a tad more experience than the normal R8.
That was my contribution to the first IAA-video of 2017, but there's more.
As we speak, Damiaan is at Mercedes and he's got some stuff to show us as well.
Mercedes only shows two cars on their preview night. The other cars will be presented in a later stadium.
First off, the Smart Vision EQ ForTwo, which is a concept for an autonomous sharing-car.
Behind the people however, is something very special.
We'll show you that in a minute, but let's start with the Smart.
And this is it: the Smart EQ.
The sharing-car of the future.
The only thing you'll need to use it, is your smartphone.
You order it, and it'll drive right to your house.
All by itself. No driver, no steering wheel and no pedals.
It's fully autonomous.
It'll get you to your destination in the city, and it could take detour to pickup another passenger.
The remarkable thing about the Smart IQ is, that you can fully customize it to your personal preferences.
You can change the colors according to your taste, you can project text on the windows, or the weather report,
or a clock. Whatever you like.
It's an incredibly fun future vision by Smart.
Smart also had real news to offer.
From 2020 they'll only be making electric cars for America.
Soon thereafter, the petrol and diesel engines will disappear in Europe as well. Then Smart'll only produce fully electrical vehicles.
And with that, Smart will become the first manufacturer to switch to fully electric vehicles.
So what's the fuzz about at Mercedes? This car.
The Mercedes-AMG Project One, and that isn't a surprise.
It's nothing more than a Formula One-car for the public roads.
That's why Lewis Hamilton himself drove the car on stage.
There's a 1.6-litre V6 fitted in there, and together with four electrical motors in the wheels,
it produces over 1000 horsepower.
And with that power output, it'll reach speeds of 200+ km/h within six seconds.
That is, if you know how to treat the flappy paddles right, because it's a manual.
The car isn't completely finished yet, so we'll have to wait until next year, when we'll be able to see it in its full glory.
Only 275 of them will be built, but all of them have already been sold.
A few of them will come to the Netherlands as well, but the new owners will have to pay more than €2.000.000 though...
A few numbers then. It's able to drive 25 kilometres in fully electric mode.
But is that something you want in a car like this? I don't...
The rear axle puts down 680 horsepower, and both front wheels produce 163 horsepower each.
That gives you a power output which exceeds the 1000 horsepower barrier, which is good for a top speed of 350 km/h.
And with that, we've reached the end of the first video. Stay tuned for more news from Frankfurt.