Manufacturers at IAA Munich: the import brands from Europe and Asia

While big German brands usually set the standards in car exhibitions all around the world, import brands have a hard time stealing the show in Germany.

Manufacturers at IAA Munich: the German brands in the spotlight

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Still, many gave a proper effort at the IAA, at least to deliver a decent performance. This year, the exhibitor list was shorter, and their efforts had to be split between the expo and downtown Munich. At the same time, some stages proved to be quite spectacular.

Cupra punched well above its weight

The brand born out of SEAT’s racing division delivered a very impressive show. At the same time, the “mother” company SEAT did not even participate. Cupra had even two sites in the city: they rented a bar in the main square and erected a building in the main square of the city centre, at world expo quality.

The bar held a specimen of the newly unveiled fully electric Born and the electric Urban Rebel concept with a physical premiere in Munich.

The concept car gives an idea of the future design language of Cupra’s upcoming urban electric vehicle, which will be launched in 2025.

Cupra’s main building was one of the most formidable constructs of the downtown show. The inside hid two cars, the Tavascan Extreme E Concept and a Cupra E-Racer.

The Tavascan Extreme E Concept is a reinterpretation of the e-CUPRA ABT XE1.

At the same time, the concept aims to hint at the design direction for the brand’s future production SUV.

Ford had clearly more emphasis on fun than on cars

Despite its strong foothold in Germany, I listed ford among the import brands, and I think most people in Germany feel that way. The US Giant’s European operations have been on retreat for many years, but the new crossover projects seem to bear fruit.

The Ford booth did not offer technological finesse or important premieres but a lot of fun for visitors. In addition to the crazy jump from 10 metres high, they offered a trio of simulators where you can test your virtual driving skills.

A particular highlight was the neon green Ford S1 E3, which is an incarnation of the company’s virtual race car Fordzilla P1. It is a rather fitting mascot to Ford’s virtual racing team.

Renault’s stage was a true chameleon with the worst pun with words…

Renault went old school and only exhibited at the Summit. To do that, they totally revamped their stage (sadly called the “Studiault”) after the press day to the extent that we did not even recognise the press photos.

We missed the Renault 5 concept but saw an electric Hippo delivery van that could have got a role in Blade Runner.

Along with the small city dwarf Duo, the stage aimed to introduce Mobilize, the mobility solution of Renault.

The centre of the stage was occupied by the brand new Limo, an electric sedan, available with flex-rate packages including services devised specifically for taxi and chauffeur drivers.

The best effort of the year: Great Wall ticked all the boxes with Ora and Wey

The boom of the Chinese automotive industry had its perks for the IAA for many years. The gradual withdrawal of European brands was to some extent compensated by the arrival of unknown Chinese brands who came with impressive shows without ever selling a car in Europe (or, in the case of Thunderpower, even making any).

This year Great Wall surpassed even local players with two grand stages for its brands Wey and Ora, and also built a pavilion downtown, offering snacks, drinks and ice cream for visitors.

The Summit stage of Wey had it all: models (yes, so 2000’s 🙂 ), fancy concept car, dancers, presentations, coffee bar with free drinks, and a presentation of its SUVs conveniently called Coffee (back home they named after various types, like Mocha).

The Coffee 02 is an electric SUV that seems quite well equipped to compete in the European small SUV segment.

The exhibited 02 left a lasting impression. It felt like an electric car made by the traditional car industry. It lacked the spaceship-like feeling of a Tesla, but for that, it had that familiar feeling that worked well for Ford.

The other stage was dedicated to Ora, the brand new electric sub-brand of Great Wall.

Honestly, I did not get that familiar feeling, instead, the cars felt like most cars were a Chinese “inspiration” of familiar models of the VW conglomerate. But I have to give them, the stage itself looked really nice.

Great Wall also built up a nice booth in the city centre. They offered all sorts of refreshments along with traditional brochures.

Polestar brought a new concept and its “entire” model range (of two cars)

Volvo did not participate, in line with its HQ directive, but Polestar increased its presence to 2019 with two stages, one in the Summit and a big one in the city centre.

The models are not new, but the brand is still being set up, with sales nowhere near Tesla’s.

The highlight of the downtown stage was the Precept concept car. This was introduced already in 2020, but the IAA Munich was the first cars show, where visitors could witness for the first time.

The Percept is meant to be a large electric car with 4 metres long wheelbase and a precursor to its future model generation, a focus on sustainability using recycled materials and Lidar for its automated driving capabilities.

Hyundai and Kia ensured a small but impressive presence.

The conglomerate followed the logic of the Summit, as Hyundai exhibited its future strategy along with some breath-taking concepts, while Kia took the downtown stage, featuring premiere models for the wider audience.

The Summit stage featured a very impressive decoration with changing colours and two show cars. The black Prophecy EV serves as a precursor for Hyundai’s next dedicated full-electric vehicle, the IONIQ 6.

The other show car is IONIQ 5- robotaxi, a Level 4 autonomous driving vehicle based on IONIQ 5.

Kia settled downtown, on the Odeonsplatz with a premiere of two cars, made accessible for a seat probe. The Sportage PHEV features Kia’s 1.6-litre T-GDI engine, paired with a 66.9kW electric motor powered by a 13.8kWh lithium-ion polymer battery pack.

Kia also showcased the brand’s first dedicated battery electric vehicle (BEV), the EV6.

The coolest roller company resurrected the Isetta.

Micro Mobility Systems is a Swiss company that produces urban mobility vehicles and was well known for its kick scooters (aka rollers).

The star of their show was the small electric car called Microlino. This car was first presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 2016, but its resemblance to the Isetta garnered them considerable attention.

Ooops, we forgot about Dacia…

Dacia was casually located in a pavillion set up by the entrance of the expo area. At the same time, we managed to bypass it upon entrance and forgot to go back to see it. Sorry… It was me not you… : )

For an overview of the IAA Munich, check out the  intro article:

We travelled 800kms to see the IAA – was it worth it?

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And for the 2021 calendar, I recommend to revisit our bucket list:

The ultimate European automotive events calendar 2021 – december update

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