The car industry’s exuberance in Frankfurt this year was almost irrational. Stock markets are in turmoil, China is seeing the outer limits of its growth and consumer confidence is at very low ebb. Even the positive element of low fuel costs cast a shadow over the relevance of electric and hybrid vehicles.

Yet the razzmatazz and grand scale of things at Frankfurt portray an industry at its golden age.

The media scrum exceeded anything known in the past years especially around exotic launches of a Bugatti concept hyper-car and a Lamborghini convertible Huracan.

These are not cars that would be relevant to any consumer in the foreseeable future.

There were so many flights of fancy at Frankfurt with electric concepts and peculiar designs all over the place.

One wonders if potential buyers were even consulted on what they want to buy.

There is a race for autonomous driving but most drivers are not willing to give up steering their cars yet. One driver said that could do autonomous driving anytime — by taking a taxi!

The extravagance of some companies at Frankfurt defies logic.

One company designed a wall of frozen solid ice at the entrance to its pavilion.

Another designed a world-record loop for its SUV to perform.

Covering Frankfurt every odd-year is a daunting task for motoring journalists. They do not look forward to the miles of footwork needed to see all the exhibits. Fortunately, these days they do not have to ship boxes of press materials to their offices.

They can collect tiny USBs with entire media kits already uploaded.

However, some companies have gone an unwelcome step further by giving journalists paper cards with the address of their websites for downloading photos and texts.

This may save companies some funds but it is a step not favored by journalists as it wastes their time in spending hours going from one website to another to download materials.

In major events, journalists make the effort in coming to the companies and they want companies to help save their time by giving them the relevant materials ready to use on a USB.

This would give companies better media exposure and it is money better spent than ice walls and world –record loops.

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* Adel Murad is a senior motoring and business journalist, based in London.

Email: [email protected]