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CITY cars took centre stage at the Frankfurt show as European, Japanese and Korean car makers showed contenders for Europe’s fastest growing sector.
Rover’s new “millennium Mini” and the highly innovative Mercedes-Swatch joint venture Smart car were joined by urban runabouts from Daewoo, Hyundai, Audi and Toyota.
Those four manufacturers all showed compact, monospace five-doors with high roof lines. But the new Mini remains conventional, with retro styling.
Rover displayed a “ready to go prototype” of the new Mini for the press – but took it away before the show opened to the public. The move was seen in the industry as a bid to show BMW’s commitment to producing the Mini.
The car goes on sale in the spring of 2000, but it will be beaten to market by Hyundai’s Atos, which goes on sale next May, and Daewoo’s d’Arts, designed in Worthing and due for launch next autumn.
Hyundai managing director David Walker said the Atos should be priced below œ7,000 and sell between 5,000 and 6,000 units yearly.
The new Mini, by contrast, will be undercut by Rover’s entry-level 200 and could be priced in the œ11,500 to œ13,500 range. Sales director Peter Jones said the car “has the potential to be a top ten seller in Britain”.
The Smart goes on sale on the Continent next year, and Audi said its AL2 may be marketed by 2000. Toyota showed a concept which will ultimately go into production at a second European plant.
(See our Frankfurt show report pages 6-10).
Those four manufacturers all showed compact, monospace five-doors with high roof lines. But the new Mini remains conventional, with retro styling.
Rover displayed a “ready to go prototype” of the new Mini for the press – but took it away before the show opened to the public. The move was seen in the industry as a bid to show BMW’s commitment to producing the Mini.
The car goes on sale in the spring of 2000, but it will be beaten to market by Hyundai’s Atos, which goes on sale next May, and Daewoo’s d’Arts, designed in Worthing and due for launch next autumn.
Hyundai managing director David Walker said the Atos should be priced below œ7,000 and sell between 5,000 and 6,000 units yearly.
The new Mini, by contrast, will be undercut by Rover’s entry-level 200 and could be priced in the œ11,500 to œ13,500 range. Sales director Peter Jones said the car “has the potential to be a top ten seller in Britain”.
The Smart goes on sale on the Continent next year, and Audi said its AL2 may be marketed by 2000. Toyota showed a concept which will ultimately go into production at a second European plant.
(See our Frankfurt show report pages 6-10).