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Frankfurt motor show 2011: the A-Z guide

Click here for Gavin Greens Frankfurt motor show blog The Frankfurt motor show is in full swing on Tuesday 13 September and CAR has a team of reporters bringing you the news, new car launches and gossip from the IAA. Come back here over the next 48 hours for our handy A-Z list of all the important new cars at Frankfurt - click through on the links below for the pictures, galleries, news and analysis on each launch. And follow Ben Barry's Live Blog here, as he tries to see every car at the Frankfurt auto show.

Electric BMW 1 Series Concept ActiveE Revealed

The BMW 1 Series ActiveE Concept BMW are ramping up their foray in to electric cars with the reveal of the BMW 1 Series Concept ActiveE which will show at the Detroit Motor Show in January, and takes the company a step further along the electric car line than the MINI E. The starting point for public trials of BMW’s i-Project (for ‘Public Trials’ read ‘We’ll get the punters to suss the problems’) was the front wheel drive MINI E which is out playing on the roads in a limited lease programme in the UK, Germany and the US. The programme has not been without problems including charging issues and poor range, but BMW are quite upfront about this being about seeing how the electric cars work in the real world.

Lincoln opens first dedicated design studio for 40 years

Ford has opened the first dedicated Lincoln design center for 40 years in Dearborn, Michigan, as part of its ongoing brand reinvention. Last August Ford announced it would be creating the studio for its luxury brand as well as increasing spending, giving it unique interiors and powertrains in an effort to differentiate it from the core Ford offerings. The Lincoln Design Studio has been built on the campus of Ford's Product Development center and houses designers, sculptors, modelers and engineers who make up part of a larger Lincoln Product Development team that will create four new Lincoln vehicles by 2015.