Electric models dominated Frankfurt, but SUVs will still play a crucial role for carmakers, writes Geraldine Herbert The doors opened last week in Frankfurt to one of the biggest motor shows in the world. Once a feast of polished new metal spread across countless halls, the biennial show this year was a more muted affair with more than 19 major car brands skipping the event. The remaining manufacturers, including Mercedes, BMW and VW, slimmed down their presence significantly. Evidence that the digital age is proving a challenge for the automotive industry as carmakers develop new and crucially, cheaper ways to communicate. Stricter emissions standards, US tariffs, a slowdown in the Chinese market and a looming hard Brexit means the global economic outlook is darkening. Meanwhile, the industry is facing fundamental change, and new technologies for electromobility, connectivity and autonomous cars require substantial investment. Climate change activists also threatened to steal the limelight. Just days before the show opened, more than 40 luxury cars were vandalised on the grounds of a car dealership in Frankfurt, prompting fears that climate action demonstrators planned to descend in droves. Rise of SUVs Meanwhile, calls for SUVs to be banned in city centres on safety grounds were debated in the German media after four people, including a three-year-old boy, were killed when an SUV mounted the pavement on a city-centre Berlin street. At a time when SUVs are the most popular car type with buyers, the industry is responding by expanding the range of models on offer at every motor show to cash in on this profitable segment. And it’s a segment that is proving crucial to sustaining future investment for car makers so any move to ban them will be strongly resisted.   A bright future for electric cars So while green initiatives by the motor industry have proved disappointing in the past, did the industry present a credible vision of a sustainable transport future at Frankfurt? A bright future for electric cars was certainly the dominant theme. One of the most important debuts of the show was VW’s production version of its new electric car, the ID.3, the first of a new family of electric vehicles from the brand. VW plans to sell one million EVs a year by 2025 and by 2028 there will be almost 70 new VW group electric...