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Editors' Choice: Top Five 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show Debuts

Consider the 2015-16 auto show season officially kicked off. The Frankfurt Motor Show offered a great look at the newest crop of production cars and conceptual machines, and brought some old favorites back into the spotlight for a closer look. (The Alfa Romeo Giulia, for example, debuted in June, but this was the first time most of us saw it.) Now that the dust has settled and we're all on flights back to the US, our editors cast their votes for their personal favorites from the Frankfurt show. These are the cars we truly loved seeing the most. But unlike other shows, there was no one runaway winner – all of the Top Five received positive praise from our team. We won't spoil the results, though. Scroll down to see what we liked most from this year's Frankfurt expo. 5th Place – MERCEDES-BENZ IAA CONCEPT View 12 Photos MIKE AUSTIN: The clean lines on this concept have me excited for a more elegant beauty to future Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Next to the Concept IAA, the lovely S-Class Coupe looks like an overstyled barge. DAVID GLUCKMAN: Yeah, the extendable rear is neat and all, but I'm more interested in the front-end styling of this one. It looks like the Tron version of a 300SL, in a good way. I'm hopeful it portends the future of Mercedes design. STEVEN EWING: I was super impressed when Mercedes said that, with the rear end extended, this concept has a drag coefficient of just 0.19. That's crazy aerodynamic. I'm not head-over-heels about the styling, but I think the lessons learned from this concept are really important, and will play a huge role in the future of Mercedes' products. 4th Place – ALFA ROMEO GIULIA View 15 Photos SEYTH MIERSMA: I can hardly express how in love with this car I am. The styling feels creative, modern, and evocative, without going over the top. The proposed performance is spectacular. And the Alfa badge speaks to a legacy of romantic motoring. DAVID GLUCKMAN: Pretty Italian car makes big promises and will probably deliver on about three quarters of them. I think that will still be enough for me. JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I'm really intrigued by the Giulia. It looks great, sounds awesome, and I'm expecting it to have a load more character than its German rivals. I hope I'm not disappointed. 3rd Place – JAGUAR F-PACE View 15 Photos GREG MIGLIORE: It's the first SUV for Jaguar, and I think they nailed the design, capability, and electronics. It's the right car at the right time.

Porsche designer to head Lamborghini style department

The winds of change are blowing through the front office in Sant'Agata Bolognese. Not only does Lamborghini have a new chief executive, but not it named a new chief designer as well. And he comes from Porsche. Mitja Borkert is his name, and he's been working in the Porsche design department since 1999. He headed up its advanced design office until 2014 when he was named head of exterior design for the company. The Macan, Cayenne, and the new 987 Boxster were all heavily influenced by his work, as were concepts like the Panamera Sport Turismo and Mission E. As the new director of the Centro Stile at Lamborghini, Borkert takes over from Felippo Perini, who's heading over to run Italdesign – a job that used to belong to Wolfgang Egger. The once-independent design firm was taken over by the Volkswagen Group in 2010, and recently saw its famous founder Giorgetto Giugiaro leave to start another office afresh. The shift in the design office follows hot on the heels of the announcement that longtime CEO Stephan Winkelmann is leaving for Audi's Quattro GmbH, and that former Scuderia Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is moving in to take his place on the outskirts of Bologna. Considering how different their design approaches are, it will be interesting to see how a longtime Porsche designer applies his skills to Lamborghinis. Will future Raging Bulls go softer and more rounded, or will Borkert have to pull some new tricks out from his sleeve? We'll be watching to find out. Related Video: Mitja Borkert is the new Director of Centro Stile Lamborghini Sant'Agata Bolognese, 1 March 2016 – Automobili Lamborghini has appointed Mitja Borkert as the new Director of its Centro Stile (design center), starting from 4 April 2016. In his new role Mr. Borkert is responsible for the design of future Lamborghini models and the coordination of the design team, reporting to Maurizio Reggiani, Board Member for Research and Development. He succeeds Filippo Perini, who was appointed Design Director of Italdesign. Borkert is German, aged 42, and attended the Design University of Pforzheim where he graduated in Transportation Design. In 1999, he began work at Style Porsche, in Weissach, holding various positions, including General Manager Advanced Design until 2014, when he was appointed Director of Exterior Design. He contributed to the development of several Porsche models (Panamera Sport Turismo, Porsche Boxster 987 facelift, Cayenne, Macan, Mission e).

Porsche offering short-term loans to Macan waitlisters

Walk into a Porsche dealer today, place an order for a Macan and you'll be looking at a waiting period of six months or more before you can expect delivery. That may be common enough for high-end European automakers, but the Macan is meant to lure new buyers to the brand, and the waitlist could be enough to deter them from sticking around.
The solution? Offer to lease them a Boxster or Cayman until their new Macan arrives. Shorter in term that the usual new-car lease, these six-month terms are designed to keep buyers from turning their backs, all the while experiencing the kind of vehicle Porsche does best.
Of course it doesn't hurt that the dealer then gets a used sports car to sell again once the short-term lease is up. And we wouldn't be surprised to see some buyers asking to hold on to their mid-engined sports car for a little longer, either.