Picture gallery: Frankfurt Motor Show

Frankfurt's massive motor show runs for 10 days

The Frankfurt Motor Show, the car industry's biggest event of the year, officially gets under way on Thursday, and news is already leaking out.

In all, car makers are set to launch 57 new models in Frankfurt, as they jostle for position in an increasingly tough market.

This year, the keenest competition is in the booming market for smaller, more economical vehicles.

BBC News Online presents a selection of the earliest images, and will keep updating the gallery throughout the show, which runs until 23 September.

The motor show began in subdued mood, with a minute's silence for the victims of the United States attacks

In the wake of the attacks, security has been hugely stepped up at this year's motor show

MG's new X80 car, priced at around £50,000, is an attempt to prise open the luxury vehicle market

With the new R-Coupe, Jaguar - owned by US car giant Ford - hopes to make the luxury market more exciting

Audi chief executive Franz-Josef Paefgen steps into the new Audi Avantissimo concept car

BMW's new 760 Li model aims to stem the German car firm's flagging sales

Right at the top of the market is the Bugatti 16.4 Veyron super sports car, produced by a unit of Germany's Audi

A visitor looks at French car maker Citroens' new concept car, the C-Crosser

Ford's new Fiesta completes the firm's revision of its model portfolio, and hopes to cash in on the booming small car market

Fiat's new mid-market Stilo model is going head-to-head with the VW Golf and Ford Focus in one of the market's toughest niches

Fiat is hoping to breathe life into its well-known Alfa Romeo brand with its new Alfa 156 GTA sports model

Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo hopes the new Maserati Spyder model can buck the trend towards smaller cars

Opel, General Motors' German unit, hopes its new Combo people carrier will help boost flagging sales

Not all the cars at Frankfurt are new: BMW brought along the Isetta, a tiny two-seater it made in the 1950s