We cover every car debut, get inside scoops, and take you behind the scenes in Paris
Welcome to Autocar's coverage of the 2016 Paris motor show. Scroll down to recap on all the goings-on at the show this year.
This show will always be remembered as the event where electric vehicles stopped being niche and moved into the mainstream. There were simply too many battery electric models, launched or forecast, for anyone present to imagine that their life isn't going to be affected, and in the near term, by the presence of electric vehicles.
The supporting theme, continued from all recent shows, was SUVs.Land Rover weighed in heavily on the conventional side of the technical argument with a loud launch of its impressive all-new fifth-generation Discovery. Audi had a new Q5, Ssangyong's LIV2 prototype was actually its new Rexton production model in show clothing, and Skoda gave the Kodiaq its first public outing.
Given that these heavily contrasting vehicle types were around in such numbers, said one wit, the show felt a bit as if you were standing at a busy crossroads, waiting to see which stream would give way. The reality is, of course, that the two types will eventually combine – as in Mercedes' prophetic Generation EQ concept. It's an electric SUV for now, and impressive, but it's even more important as the precursor of 10 fully electric Mercedes EQ cars within a decade.
Volkswagen, seemingly always in the news, drew all eyes with itshighly influential ID electric concept, a modern-familiar on brand-new architecture that aims to be the Golf of electric cars by 2020, as opposed to a mere Golf modified to be electric, which is what we have now. VW plans many more of these as the years go by. In fact, the air seemed full of German boasts about clouds of new models between now and 2025.
Mind you, there were strong conventional show themes. Superminis were strong (Nissan Micra, Citroën C3, Kia Rio, an extended-range Renault Zoe) because the industry, which previously saw these B-segment hatchbacks as tough to engineer and close to uneconomic, now regards this big, dependable market as something of an island in the storm. High-performance cars (Mercedes-AMG GT roadster,LaFerrari Aperta) were around but didn't really star. But then, Paris is always a bit confusing, given the random layout of exhibition buildings at its unique venue not far from Porte de Versailles.
There was a very worthy strand to this show, maybe the worthiest yet. The words 'connected', 'autonomous', 'mobility services', 'electric', 'battery' and 'shared' were scattered so widely by so many that, to the traditional enthusiast hungry for excitement and dreaming of something new to own, the mood must have been downbeat. Paris itself was downbeat following the recent terrorist outrages. Besides, you can't have a motor show with no-shows like Lamborghini, Bugatti,Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Ford and Mazda without the event losing some of its sparkle.
2016 PARIS MOTOR SHOW - AUTOCAR LIVE BLOG
Jimi Beckwith
1800 - This is where we disembark at the Autocar UK office. The show is over for today, so it's time to regroup ready for the final day of action tomorrow. Keep refreshing our Paris news homepage as the final stories roll in, and keep an eye on our opinions homepage as our correspondents at the show gather their thoughts and put fingers to keyboards. But until tomorrow, we're off. Watch our highlights video below to recap, and find out more about all of the cars in it here.
1757 - The results are in from our Paris motor show Autocar readers' favourite poll. We held three rounds of polls to decide the ultimate winner, and from a final between the Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce, LaFerrari Aperta, Land Rover Discovery and Porsche Panamera, theAlfa Romeo Giulia Veloce triumphed, with 34% of the overall vote. Thank you for all your votes, and we'll keep you posted on whether the model will be brought to the UK.
1755 - If you've missed anything from today, all the reveals and news stories, big and small, are in our Paris motor show news feed. There's also extra tidbits on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds, as well as bespoke videos on our YouTube channel.
1750 - Then, today's action got under way. Once again, it started with a bang, as the Honda Civic Type R concept broke cover. Big-hitters of the day were the Renault Trezor concept, Hyundai RN30, Ferrari's limited edition models and Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ were all revealed, while the Nissan Micra blew all expectations away with a bold new look and wide-ranging appeal in our readership. Then, theAudi Q5 took over as top story for the rest of the afternoon.
1740 - Matt Burt is still over at Fiat: "Fiat boss Olivier Francois won't commit to a date when the next-generation Fiat 500 might arrive. It's the 500's 70th birthday next year, sparking speculation that a new one might be ushered in, but the message from the boss is that while the current car is still selling so strongly (as it is across Europe) there's no rush to cook up a new version."
1734 - As the second day - sort of - of the Paris motor show comes to close, let's recap what we've seen. Things started with a bang, as theLand Rover Discovery, one of the most popular cars of this year's show, was unveiled in London before proceedings began. Then,Volkswagen revealed the ID concept, signposting its future and spearheading something of a re-brand for the marque's tarnished reputation.
1727 - Jim Holder has gained some insight into the biggest story of the decade, the Volkswagen emissions scandal: "Fascinating half hour with VW brand boss Herbert Diess, who embodied contrition and ambition as well as he should. There were no excuses - "morally we did something really wrong" - and many pledges to earn back customer loyalty, plus a polite admission that the company "used to be a bit overstated for me" (read between the lines there).
But what stood out was the determination to spend the next four years building the blocks to succeed with the electric car revolution pioneered by today's ID reveal. Timing, he reckons, is everything - and launching in four years allows the answers to electric propulsion's difficulties to crystallise - namely range, infrastructure and complimentary self-driving and connected tech. Is he right? Nobody has the answer, but you'd be brave to bet against him."
1705 - ...While Rachel Burgess checks out a more tech-oriented exhibitor: "HERE is by far the most prominent tech company at the show this year with a prominent place on the main thoroughfare. Being owned by BMW Audi and Daimler probably helps..."
1656 - Matt Burt has uncovered some disheartening news: "Prospects of a hard-roofed version of the Fiat 124 Spider appear to be fading. Autocar reported a coupe was in the works but today Fiat chief Olivier Francois said: "We looked at it but it isn't in the plan at the moment". Shame - the fixed-head rally car version shown as a concept earlier this year looked stunning..."
1644 - There's no denying that the sheer volume of coverage of the Paris motor show is testament to its size and importance; our picture editor, Ben Summerell-Youde, has precisely 2222 images from the show. Now someone has to sift through them.
1635 - Andrew Frankel's been chatting to Mercedes-Benz execs: "Mercedes-Benz marketting boss Dr Jens Thiemer is not underestimating the challenge posed by our all electric future. Talking to Autocar at the launch of its all new EQ product brand, he said: ‘After 130 years, the race begins from zero again.’"
1625 - It'll be an exciting World Rally Championship with today's reveals racing against one another; the Toyota Yaris WRC and theHyundai i20 WRC challenger.
1619 PROMOTED - Want to take a look around the Seat stand at the Paris Motor Show? You can now check out a video tour as part of Autocar’s promoted live coverage brining you everything that Seat is up to in Paris. Click here to take a look.
1555 - Matt Burt likes to be direct with car execs: ""Is diesel going to die?" It's a question I've lobbed into a few interviews with car company execs today. Responses were mixed, but the key theme was how tightening legislation and the need to use technology to force down emissions could drive up the price of cars fitted with diesel engines considerably."
1549 - If you want to watch Ferrari's press conference, it's uploaded the whole thing to YouTube:
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