Paris motor show news and features

Land Rover unveiled its most fuel-efficient car ever at the French motor show: the new Freelander TD4_e Stop/Start. No prizes for guessing it's a diesel 4x4, whose economy is improved by 3.8mpg and...

The heavily revised Mitsubishi Colt was the biggest real-world news for the Japanese brand at Paris. It now gets the large signature jet fighter grille from its bigger Lancer brother, alongside a...

Bentley launches its Arnage Final Series, a wonderfully blunt name for the run-out Arnage model. Probably a good thing too - the upright Final Series looked like a old-fashioned stately home next to...

Nothing much happening at the Rolls Royce stand at Paris. There are three cars lined up: the enormous Phantom (still the Daddy); the vast Drophead (with its yacht-style rear decking); and the...

Peugeot has a very busy stand at Paris this year. As well as a million look-alike hatches of various sizes, it also showcased its new 'Hy' hybrid technology in a big way - with not one but four new...

Rather than celebrating the new, Jaguar celebrated the very old in Paris this year - but it was still one of the most stylish cars on display. That's because 2008 marks 60 years since the launch of...

The buzz around Aston Martin continues. The now independent brand is teasing motor show visitors with a styling buck of the One-77 (the ultra-exclusive £1.2 million supercar that’ll be limited to a...

No new cars for Fiat at Paris, so the spotlight fell on environmental initiatives. A five-times life-size white Fiat 500 presided over a stand occupied entirely by pearl white 500s, Bravos, Sedicis,...

Visitors to the Maserati stand at Paris were treated to Modena’s familiar but still nonetheless alluring two-car range with a trio of Quattroportes and a pair of Granturismos, the newest versions...

On one level, the Saab 9-X Air is a re-work of the Geneva show’s 9-X BioHybrid with its roof chopped off. But get up close and you’ll find it’s one hell of a smart hatchet job.   Tell me more about...

At the Paris Motor Show 2006, CAR Online witnessed the covers come off the concept that was to pre-empt Lancia’s C-segment superstar. Today the Lancia Delta takes pride of place on the Lancia stand,...

Welcome to CAR's Paris motor show 2008 coverage – with news, photos, galleries, blogs and interviews filed straight from the Mondial de l'Automobile on 2 and 3 October. Read our coverage of each press...

It’s all quiet at Alfa, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to look at. The girls are of an even higher standard than those over the road at Fiat, while the 8C Spider – standing proud in pearl white...

A coupe/cabriolet version of the appealing IS250 was Lexus’s highlight at Paris. Its three-piece folding metal roof completes its gymnastics in just 20 seconds before folding flat in the cavernous...

Toyota showed the latest, third-generation Avensis, a car that typically whips up as much excitement from car enthusiasts as the Eurovision Song Contest does with music aficionados. The Avensis is one...

General Motors’ Chevrolet stand was buzzing at Paris with two world debuts – the Chevrolet Cruze production saloon and Chevrolet Orlando seven-seater show car – plus two important European production...

Skoda launched its revised Octavia at the Paris motor show – and it's clear to see they've injected some mini-Superb DNA. And that was about it for the Czech marque this year; 2008 is a bit of a slow...

Audi’s sparkling new A1 Sportback – a thinly camouflaged version of its 2010 A1 Mini-basher – as well as its frugal A4 Concept E and a rather large trophy were the highlights of Ingolstadt’s Parisian...

Kia is desperate to prove to the world that it has Soul. And it did so in the most obvious way in Paris with – you guessed it – some soul singers. Seven versions of the new urban crossover Soul were...

The Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer bagged its world debut as an Opel-badged vehicle in Paris. Yet another well styled, curvaceous family estate in the vein of the Citroen C5, Ford Mondeo and Honda...

The new X1 and 7-series were the stars of BMW’s Paris stand, but there were plenty more treats for showgoers, including the subtly revised 3-series saloon and Touring – the Efficient Dynamics-fettled...

We’ve already seen it in the November 2008 issue of CAR, but Paris marked the motor show debut of the Mini Crossover Concept – a pumped-up four-wheel drive Mini that goes on sale in 2009. As...

Seat wheeled out its feisty new Ibiza Cupra – all 180bhp of it – and followed it up by its new old A4-based Exeo, and topped off its show with its ultra-clean Ibiza Ecomotive.  Tell me more about the...

The big news at Ferrari was the California – Maranello’s first coupe convertible and its first car to feature a dual-clutch semi-auto gearbox. Parked alongside the Ferrari F1 car, it looked more...

Renault put in the strong showing you'd expect from France's biggest car maker on its home turf, with six new cars or concepts led by two versions of the new Megane. There's also the production...

Mercedes’ new Project Fascination – easily the best-looking car from Stuttgart in a long while – took centre stage on Daimler's stand, followed by the new S400 Blue Hybrid, a grenade-proof Pullman...

Citroen is one of the show stealers this year with a stunning-looking concept car that you can actually drive, courtesy of a tie-up with PlayStation. But the firm’s stand had something for everyone,...

The new CTS Sport Wagon took pride of place on Cadillac’s Paris show. After a strong reception at the elite Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, California in August 2008, the European unveil was the...

Ambitious SsangYong is targeting down-sizing drivers with its new CX200. The Toyota RAV4-size SUV is the first front-wheel drive car from the Korean concern. Crucially for its continued advancement...

Honda’s Paris stand was largely devoted to clean and affordable motoring. There was the latest Jazz and a new six-speed gearbox. But the real excitement was reserved for the new second-generation...

Ford’s latest Ka – high style meets low cost – makes its bow at the Paris show. It’s a funky little thing based on the Fiat 500/Panda, and built in the same Polish factory. It dials up driving brio...

Volkswagen is calling it a concept, but its new Golf GTI study is pretty much the real thing. Bar a few minor tweaks, what you see here is what will start rolling out of Wolfsburg in spring 2009. And...

Lamborghini’s new Estoque is easily the star of the Paris motor show. Big, bold and irrepressibly Lamborghini, the Estoque should hit showrooms by 2011 with an anticipated £130k price tag to slug it...

A genuine (and exciting) surprise from Nissan in the shape of its Nuvu concept car. This cool little city car’s name literally translates as ‘new view’ and it’s Nissan’s view of urban transportation...

Infiniti kicked off its Mondial de l'Automobile on the eve of the show by opening its Parisian dealership, the brand's first showroom in Western Europe. Sales started in Russia in 2006, but this was...

Renault Twingo: the lowdown This is Renault’s all-new Twingo city car, due in the UK in September 2007. We never got the Mk1, but Renault has this time engineered the Twingo for right-hand drive. And...