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From YourSITE.com Events Coverage If you likened Europe’s Essen Motor Show as a bit like SEMA you wouldn’t be far off. Both of these aftermarket fall extravaganzas are the place where the major market tuners show their lines and where builders of the nuttiest modified cars display their creations. Both too are major attractions on the calendar and both attract car manufacturers’ participation inconsistently at best. Audi usually exhibits at Essen, sharing the latest from Audi Accessories and quattro GmbH, though Ingolstadt surprisingly dropped Essen from its docket this year. Combine that with down attendance by the tuners and one could quickly see that, like SEMA, Essen was a bit off of its game due to the down economy.
If Audi’s absence seems out of the ordinary, maybe it shouldn’t. We’re told Skoda was the only Volkswagen Group marque in attendance this year and the Czech marque was only joined by Fiat and Alfa Romeo as representative of the entire car industry. More curious Audi enthusiasts, Ingolstadt skipping Essen leaves us wondering about ‘Project Anniversario’. Depending on who you believe, this much rumored, drastically lightened A5 coupe built in the mould of the Sport quattro, fitted with the 5-cylinder FSI turbo from the TTRS and supposedly destined for limited production was a good candidate for an Essen Motor Show headliner from Audi. Even Georg Kacher has talked of the thing and coined the name ‘Project Anniversario’. Essen was one of the last shows of the year where such a concept might appear and one would assume that with a name like Anniversario the car would bow during Audi’s 100th Anniversary.
So Audi didn’t attend but you have to assume some sort of corporate commitment remained. Several Audi R8 LMS racers were on display at the Essen Messe along with Audi’s Frankfurt IAA R8 design study polished to a mirror finish. Though the tuner field was constricted this year, several Audi-focused firms remained fixtures in Essen. PPI was a bit more conservative this year, showing a Q7 and a TT. SKN was also there with an S5 and a new B8 A4. Rieger boasted a world premiere with their new Riegerified take on the Audi R8 that were joined by Rieger-touched examples of the A5 coupe and TT as well.
Unlike SEMA, the Essen Motor Show is open to the public and boasts a media only day. Granted, it crams a schedule into that most busy season between the North American holiday of Thanksgiving and the major winter holidays so this event remains a bit off of American visitors’ radar, but it the show is still a very effective way to track the European Audi aftermarket… even better when Audi returns here hopefully next year.
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