Hyundai And Kia Had The best Frankfurt Displays

Just got back from spending two solid days trudging down every aisle of the gazillion Frankfurt show halls, dodging rain running between them and way overdoing the currywurst.

You’re welcome.

Anyway, I’ve come to this: Overall, Kia and Hyundai had the show’s best displays. Not hometown heroes BMW, the Volkswagen Group or Mercedes-Benz. Sure, they had their gems like Benz’s IAA Concept, Rolls-Royce Dawn and the new VW Tiguan. Other automakers went down swinging too; Honda’s Project 2&4, Alfa and its Giulia and the Jaguar F-Pace -- all solid.

But top to bottom, inside and out, Hyundai and Kia ruled Frankfurt ’15.

Blasphemous, you say? Allow me to explain.

Kia’s booth was packed with its new Sportage SUV and Optima sedan, an updated cee’d range, a new 1.0-liter direct-injection three-cylinder and a new seven-speed dual-clutch trans.

Whew!

The new Sportage looked excellent, not that today’s is bad. Kia said previous concepts, the Provo and Niro, inspired the Sportage’s new styling, done at Kia’s European studio with input from Irvine, California. The fourth-generation SUV is sleeker, the grille bigger and the interior quality -- whoa! -- is wayyyyy up.

Ditto the Optima. We saw it at the New York show back in the spring; it arrives in U.S. showrooms in about a month. The car looks more contemporary and the interior is bigger, bolder and, like the Sportage, of higher quality. (German automakers note well: In terms of material quality and fit and finish, Hyundai and Kia are catching you -- and quickly. Just sayin’.) Kia also promises more refinement and better ride/handling, as well as a new Sportspace-like wagon. We loved that Geneva concept. We can only hope Kia decides to send an Optima wagon here.

Kia calls the cee’d a “comprehensive upgrade,” including the 1.0-liter three.

Meanwhile, Hyundai’s headliner by a wide margin was the N 2025, and not just because it looked like a fighter jet on wheels -- there’s more to it: The N in the name represents new, sporty upscale Hyundais -- think BMW M, Audi S and RS, Ford ST, Jaguar R …

While the N 2025’s pipe-dreamy 872-hp powertrain is based on Hyundai’s hydrogen fuel-cell system, to bring the N idea down to street level, so to speak, we saw the RM15 concept. Roughly based on the Veloster, the RM15 is a mid-engine hot hatch boasting 295 hp, lightweight construction -- aluminum spaceframe, carbon fiber-reinforced body -- and a 4.7-second 0-60 time. Hyundai says future N cars -- it plans a full line -- have powertrain and material tech borrowed from its factory World Rally Championship program. The RM15 was a great example of how those kinds of goodies could be produced.

Speaking of WRC, the company also made clear it’s getting serious about its program, taking the wraps off next year’s i20 racer. Hyundai ran WRC from 2000-2003 before dropping the program, returning in 2014 with a new in-house team. The idea was to tiptoe in slowly, learn what’s changed in 11 years and build a reliable car for 2014 and ’15.

The 2016 WRC car looks vastly more serious with what Hyundai says is better aero and weight distribution. Looks like the gloves come off next year in WRC; and based on the Frankfurt displays, Hyundai and Kia continue taking the road-car gloves off, too.

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