Last week, before we left for the Paris, we showed you a video teaser of the BMW Concept X1, which debuted at the French show. The small crossover from BMW looks like it will be placed somewhere between the X3 and the 3 Series touring and, in the press release, BMW says that the concept car previews a future production model, which will be introduced within a year and which, according to the Bavarian carmaker, will be “the world’s first Sports Activity Vehicle in the premium compact segment”. The BMW X5 was a huge hit for BMW and it was the car that practically created the SAV/SUV segment, so we might say that BMW knows what they’re doing. But its smaller brother, the X3, was not that successful, so BMW probably doesn’t afford not having a strong competitor in the small SUV market. The X1 looks better than the X3, but still, we don’t like it, especially that front part, which is hideous. It remains to see what will power this car, because nothing was mentioned in the press release.

As a bonus, we got to meet Chris Bangle, one of the most controversial characters in the auto industry (a hero for some, the man that destroyed the BMW legacy for others), but he was busy preparing for a video interview and couldn’t answer a few questions.

I’m really curious, what do you think about the car?

Photo Gallery: BMW Concept X1 at the Paris Motor Show

Read More: "2008 Paris Special: BMW Concept X1"

In Paris, beside the A1 Sportback concept, the Audi stand featured two other world premieres, the new Audi S4, both Sedan and Avant versions. To be honest, ever since we drove the new Audi A4 for the first time, back in March, we’ve been waiting to see the specs and especially the looks of the new S4. We’ve already told you about the car, in a previous post, but, just as a reminder, the car is powered by a new 3.0 liter V6 petrol engine that delivers 333 hp (245 kW) that takes the new S4 from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.1/5.2 seconds (sedan/avant) and up to an electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph), while taking only 9.7 liters of fuel per 100 km (24 US mpg). The new S4 also features quattro permanent all-wheel drive and a seven-speed S tronic gearbox..

For more info, check out our previous post on the new Audi S4 and the official press release. Also, check out more photos taken by us at the Paris show. Enjoy!

Photo Gallery: The new Audi S4 at the Paris Motor Show

Photo Gallery: The new Audi S4 Avant at the Paris Motor Show

Read More: "2008 Paris Special: Audi S4 Sedan and Avant"

One of the main attractions of the Audi stand at the Paris show was the Audi A1 Sportback concept car. The design study follows Audi’s A1 Metroproject Quattro concept and it shows the German carmaker’s vision of a four-seater sub-compact hybrid. The concept is powered by a 1.4-litre TFSI engine developing 110 kW (150 hp), mated to an S tronic dual-clutch transmission. When the vehicle is accelerating, a 20 kW (27 hp) electric motor delivers an additional 150 Nm of torque (110.63 lb-ft).

When both the petrol engine and the electric motors are running, the A1 Sportback is able to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 7.9 seconds and it goes up to a top speed of 200 km/h (125 mph). The use of the electric motor allows the A1 to get an impressive fuel consumption of only 3.9 liters per 100 km (60 US mpg), while CO2 emissions are kept at 92 g/km (148.06 g/mile). Not to mention that the electric motor is able to power the car on its own, when driving at low speeds; it offers a driving range of 100 km (62 miles), zero-emissions and the lithium-ion batteries can be recharged from any power socket.

Impressive concept from Audi, and we’re probably going to see a production-ready version soon, especially with the new Euro 5 standards waiting to be introduced in 2012, despite carmakers’ protests.

Read more about the Audi A1 Sportback in the offical press release (click here) and enjoy the photos we took at the French show.

Photo Gallery: Audi A1 Sportback concept at the Paris Motor Show

Read More: "2008 Paris Special: Audi A1 Sportback Concept"

The Volkswagen stand was really interesting this year in Paris, with two very anticipated debuts, the Volkswagen Golf VI and the GTI version. We’re not going to get into details, we’ve already posted the official info on the Golf VI and the GTI. Besides the mechanical changes and the new features, I’d just like to say that there aren’t any major changes to the exterior (like it was when the fifth generation was introduced. There are, of course, new rear lights (that’s actually the most obvious change) and restyled front lights (we can’t say new, because they look a lot like the ones on the current generation), but that’s it. Nothing has changed to the overall shape of the car. So, we can say that this is basically a facelift. Plus a refreshed interior. We think Volkswagen could’ve done a better work with the sixth Golf. The good news is that the GTI (both 3-doors and 5-doors versions) still looks very aggresive and might do well in the hot-hatch segment.

Sorry about the Golf VI gallery, the photos are quite dark, but Volkswagen didn’t do a great job with their stand’s setup, the cars were quite crowded, so that’s the best we could do. Enjoy!

Photo Gallery: Volkswagen Golf VI at the Paris Motor Show

Photo Gallery: Volkswagen Golf VI GTI at the Paris Motor Show

Read More: "2008 Paris Special: Volkswagen Golf VI and GTI debut"

After a lot of ’striptease’ teasing, Citroen finally unveiled their concept car, here in Paris. The GTbyCitroen concept, besides looking incredibly good, also sets a premiere. If usually versions of real cars are featured in video games, this time Citroen has decided to create a full size replica of the car from the Playstation 3 video game, Gran Turismo 5, where it features an electric dirvetrain powered by a fuel cell. Of course, this is only a show car, it previews nothing, but still, it’s interesting to see the results when designers start playing.

“GTbyCITROËN shows how the worlds of virtual and real-life motoring can join together to create a truly innovative partnership. We were delighted that Citroen approached us and gave us the opportunity to combine our creative strengths to build this very special concept car. To see the car take shape in game and then for real has been a truly unique experience as our work normally stays in the digital world. I just hope I can get behind the wheel of GTbyCITROËN and drive it on a real race track!” said Kazanori Yamauchi, President of Polyphony Digital Inc and creator of Gran Turismo.

Photo Gallery: GTbyCitroen Concept at the Paris Motor Show

Read More: "2008 Paris Special: GTbyCitroen concept"

After a lot of teasing from the Italian carmaker, today the official debut of the Lamborghini Estoque finally took place, at the Paris Motor Show. The four door coupe is actually a design study created by Lamborghini for the French show and, with four seats and luggage space shows their vision of the perfect “everyday sports car”. Like we said before, the name Estoque comes from the name of a sword used by matador in bull fights. Though I don’t really dig all this four door coupe thing, I must admit that Lamborghini did a great job with this one, because it looks amazing, with features like its styling inspired by the Murcielago LP-640 and the Reventon or the large 22 inch wheels.

The press release also mentions that Lamborghini hasn’t yet decided whether this concept will be the starting point of a third model in the company’s range. They’re probably waiting to see the feedback for this concept and, judging by what we’ve seen, we’ll probably see this on the streets some day.

Photo Gallery: Lamborghini Estoque at the Paris Motor Show

Read More: "2008 Paris Special: Lamborghini Estoque unveiled"

Guess what car shows up in this photo and you’ll win..well, our respect. After taking several photos with this hot babe car, we had to come back to stand and see what carmaker was that. No idea why!

PS: Of course we’ve got a gallery with all those beautiful girls from the show, we’ll post it after we take some more photos tomorrow.

Read More: "There’s a car somewhere in this photo"

One of the reasons we were excited to come to the Paris Motor Show was the ultra exculsive Aston Martin One-77. However, we were pretty dissapointed to find out that we won’t be seeing the £1 million car. There was one there, but covered with a cloth, with only two corners uncovered. One of the Aston representatives told us that they’re only using the Paris show as a teaser, because they want the first units to be seen only by customers that placed their order. After that, at an unmentioned time, they’ll show it to everybody. Like I said, we were dissapointed that we didn’t get to see the car, but let’s face it, that’s maybe the coolest teaser ever. We did, however, get the chance to take some close photos of the car, and we must tell you, judging by what we see and by the overall shape, this must definitely be one heck of a car.

Photo Gallery: Aston Martin One-77 at the Paris Motor Show

Read More: "2008 Paris Special: Aston Martin One-77, still a mistery"

We really loved the first auto show we attended, the Geneva one, back in March, so, tomorrow morning we’ll be leaving for Paris, to take part in the hottest event of this Autumn, the Paris Motor Show. Though press days start on Thursday, October 2, being our first trip to the French capital, we’ve decided to leave a couple of days earlier to get to see some of Paris’ famous landmarks, like the Tour Eiffel or the Louvre museum. We’re really anxious to see the city and the show, especially with a lot of cool debuts being announced by almost all of the carmakers. So, posting will probably be slower this week, depends a lot on the internet connection from our hotel, but we’ll be back with all the highlights of the show.

So, until next time, au revoir, mes amis!

Vlad

BMW has uploaded a video on its website, in which we can get a glimpse of the BMW Concept X1, which will debut next week at the Paris Motor Show. The concept previews the production version of the X1 which, according to our friends from BMW Blog, will be available with both four wheel drive and rear wheel drive. Apparently, the car won’t be placed under the X3, in the BMW range, but more of something closer to the 3 Series touring. Sporting a range of four and six cylinders diesel and petrol engines, the X1 will first be marketed in Europe. Enjoy the video!

Read More: "Video: BMW Concept X1 teaser"

While Lamborghini decides to keep a total mistery around their upcoming four door coupe, Citroen has decided to take another aproach. Their Citroen GT Concept is doing some sort of striptease, because, with every teaser photo released, the car get more and more unveiled. After we’ve seen three teasers so far, the fourth one shows us a little more than the last one, we get to see a partial view of the front part. Just as a reminder, all we know so far is that the vehicle is a full scale concept of the Citroen sports car features in the upcoming GranTurismo Prologue5 video game for Playstation 3, that will make its debut at the Paris Motor Show.

Photo Gallery: Citroen GT Concept

Read More: "Fourth Citroen GT Concept teaser photo released"

This definitely has to be one of the most interesting marketing strategies ever. Spanish bank Banesto (a subsidiary of Santander, Spain’s largest banking organisation and owner of British banks Alliance & Leicester and Abbey), has announced that they plan on rolling a campaign that will offer brand new, all expenses paid, cars to customers that deposit between €18,000 ($26,400) and €160,000 ($235,000) for 24 to 36 months. That sounds crazy, right?

But that’s actually not that convenient. Because, first of all, you don’t get any interest on the money, and second, the cars are not really that appealing. For a €99,000 deposit you get a Citroen C2, for €120,000 you get a Citroen C3 Furior, while for the maximum €160,000 you get a Citroen C4 diesel. Is it worth it locking your money for so long for these cars? Don’t think so! Anyways, it sure was interesting to read about it.

Read More: "Spanish bank offers free cars for new deposits"

A member of the LamboPower forum has put together the teaser photos recently released by Lamborghini and came up with a partial rear view of the four-door coupe that will debut next week at the Paris Motor Show. What do you say about it? Like it? We think it looks like an Alfa, but still, we’re pretty excited about the car and can’t wait to see it live next week.

But that’s not all. Rumors showed up saying that the car will be called the Lamborghini Estoque. Pretty funny name, which comes from a special sword used by a bull fighters, and who, according to World Car Fans, is related to the Lamborghini Espada, the 2-door 4-seater produced between 1968 and 1978. So far, no official reaction from Lamborghini.

Read More: "Lamborghini teaser photos put together. The four-door coupe to be called Estoque?"

The European Parliament’s environmental committee voted against delaying the new emission standards introduction dates. This means that, starting with 2012, new cars will not be permitted to emit more than 130 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre starting in 2012, and the limit will go down to 95 grammes by 2020, subject to a review in 2014. The current CO2 emissions allowed are 158 grammes per kilometre.

“It’s a defeat for the corporate lobbyists who were trying to get the committee to take a step backwards in their greenhouse gas reductions,” said Chris Davies, a British liberal MEP. This decision affects the entire auto industry, especially the carmakers that produce large-engined and high-emission vehicles, such as BMW or Porsche. Carmakers had lobbied against the European Commission’s proposals, requesting to to extend the deadline to 2015, reduce penalties for non-compliance and allow carmakers to exempt some brands.

However, the European Comission approved a set of rules that allow carmakers to use “eco-innovations” such as low-rolling-resistance tyres when calculating their CO2 cuts, and also approved special arrangements for low-volume manufacturers such as Lotus, Aston Martin and Jaguar and Land Rover.

Carmakers are still not satisfied, claiming that about 60 percent of the cars produced in 2012 are either on sale now or in the final stage of development and saying that the deadline was unachievable, given the industry’s long product cycles.

Read More: "Carmakers hit by European Parliament decision regarding emissions"

GM’s Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced that GM will invest $370 million in a new manufacturing plant, located in Flint, Michigan. The 552,000-square-foot plant is expected to be ready in 2010, will create 300 jobs and will build a 1.4 liter turbo engine for the recently announced Chevrolet Cruze and a 1.4 liter engine for the Chevrolet Volt.

Wagoner said “We are confident that Flint is exactly the right place to build our all-new powertrain plant,” while Gov. Jennifer Granholm added “Our competitive business climate, outstanding work force and aggressive strategy to diversify our economy put us in a strong position to win this project and be the state that helps GM produce the cars and trucks that will help end our nation’s dependence on foreign oil.” Actually, things aren’t going very well for the Flint community. Currently, GM employs about 6,000 workers in five facilities located here, but that’s a huge drop, considering that once there were 60,000 GM employees here.

With this investment, GM (which will receive millions in tax incentives to build the Volt) totals $9 billion invested in Michigan in the last 10 years and more than $42 billion in the U.S.

Read More: "GM to invest $370 million in Volt engine plant"