The Car Hub

A big stand for Kia, who are on a bit of a roll at the moment. Centrepiece was the impressive new Sorento on which we've already reported in detail. The new small Venga was also on show – it should be a powerful new weapon in Kia's arsenal (sorry – it's been a long day).

Over in the enormous Volkswagen hall, there were some new Audis but they all look the same to me so I couldn't pick them out during my quick visit towards the end of the day. Far more interesting among the VW-owned brands were Skoda, with its big new Superb estate, and Bentley which showed its magnificent-looking new top-of-the range Mulsanne – some people say the Mulsane's curvy sides bring to mind the flanks of the old Mark III “Coke bottle” Cortina but I can't really see it myself.

Over at Renault, the most interesting cars weren't badged as Renaults at all. Renault still hasn't got around to importing its Romanian Dacia brand to the UK (very approximately, Dacia is to Renault what Skoda is to Volkswagen). There was a new chunkified version of the little Sandero, called Stepway but my eye was still drawn to the Logan MCV – this has been out for quite a few years now but it's still a fascinating car. Wouldn't you like to be able to buy a small but long economical estate car, available with three rows of seats for just over ten grand?

Overall impressions of this year's show? Perhaps a little less lavish than in the past, with fewer of the elaborate multi-storey stands or outdoor displays, but most of the manufacturers still seem to think its worth the effort. Honda, though, was a significant no-show. Several manufacturers never used to bother with the UK motor shows but it's literally unheard of for a big player not to show at Frankfurt, so some, at least are beginning to question the whole circus and its associated expense.