Glenn Brooks, at the Paris show, has compiled a listing of new vehicle world premieres, which he has been updating regularly over the last few months. As an accompaniment to this list, here’s an extended preview written just ahead of the show.
This time last year I was writing a preview of the Frankfurt IAA and found myself introducing Volkswagen Group’s multiple vehicle launches as the most important of the event. As we approach the Paris Mondial de l’Automobile, which opens its doors to the world’s press on 27 & 28 September, the most important new model at this event will also be a VW. At Frankfurt it was the up!; in Paris it will be the Mark VII Golf.
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Such is the cult following of VW’s hatchback, cabrio and wagon series that the sixth generation car continues to be the leader in the C segment in multiple European markets, even without a facelift since it was launched back in 2008. Which other manufacturer would have the confidence to do that?
The new Golf brings with it the first long-wheelbase application of the Volkswagen Group’s MQB platform, as introduced by the Audi A3 earlier this year. In fact, the Golf must share that honour with two other cars: it has the same 2,637mm wheelbase as the new SEAT León and Audi A3 Sportback. These five-door hatchbacks are also making their world premieres at Paris.
An interesting fact of MQB is the many lengths and widths that it can be engineered with. If you’re wondering about the Audi A3 which introduced this vehicle components matrix to the world at the Geneva show in March, it should be pointed out that the A3 has a shorter (2,601mm) wheelbase than the A3 Sportback/Golf/León. Thus, we can already accurately guess the length of the wheelbase of the forthcoming León three-door.
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The Leon won’t be the only new SEAT at the show as the Toledo is also making its global debut. This five-door hatchback is the twin of the new Škoda Rapid and will in fact be manufactured alongside that car at Škoda Auto’s Mladá Boleslav plant, adjacent to its HQ in the Czech Republic. Expect to see more shared production of MQB platform vehicles, as forthcoming Volkswagen Group plants open in China, Mexico and elsewhere.
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By GlobalDataVolkswagen Group now has 25.0% of the European market, according to ACEA’s latest sales data, so continues to pull away from the long-time number two, PSA Peugeot Citroën. The French manufacturer is putting on a brave face at its home show but the strains are visible, as management sells off subsidiaries such as Gefco in an attempt to stem losses from the Automobiles division.
The Peugeot brand has come out fighting, having already announced no fewer than nine vehicle world premieres, the most important of which is the 301, a new sedan to take on Renault’s second generation Logan, itself also debuting in Paris. Both the 301 and its twin, the Citroën C-Elysée are vital cars for PSA if it wants to stay competitive in China too. The word is these cars and derivatives of them will start to be rolled out in multiple markets from 2013, including at the group’s newest plant which it will share with Dongfeng Motor in the city of Wuhan from September 2013.
As mentioned, Renault will show the new Logan on the Dacia stand but its low-cost brand will also reveal the second generation of the five-door hatchback version, the Dacia Sandero. These cars are the third and fourth models for Renault-Nissan-AvtoVAZ’s M0 (M-Zero) architecture, following the launch earlier this year of the made-in-Morocco Dacia Lodgy and Dokker. Expect Renault-badged versions of the new Logan and Sandero to follow, with Brazil and Russia to be two of their largest global markets.
If the new B-segment Dacias will do wonders to enliven sales at the cheap end of the European market for Renault Group, the fourth generation Clio will hopefully bring richer cash rewards. Renault has been ruthless in its cost-cutting for this new car, choosing not to replace the three-door Clio and using a heavily updated Alliance B architecture rather than a clean-sheet platform. Production will be at two plants in France (Flins, Dieppe) and one in Turkey (Bursa) for this five-door hatchback and wagon range.
One of the especially interesting things about this major European show is its lack of big-name plug-in models, at least as I write this a few days ahead of the event. Renault’s little Zoe, which is more or less the EV version of the Clio, represents a substantial investment for the Group. It is by no means certain that Europeans will take to the technology underneath what is arguably the best looking electric car yet. The car’s world premiere was six months back at the Geneva show but as Renault has delayed the launch until a few months’ time, I’ll be listening out to see if there is any announcement made over likely production and sales targets for 2013.
The major American brands are using Paris to relaunch themselves, Ford taking the decision to reveal the new Mondeo fully one year ahead of its production start-up at the Genk works in Belgium. We’ll see the related S-MAX and Galaxy replacements in 2014. That’s about a year later than when I would have expected the company to have launched the successors to these minivans. The Galaxysmax should use the same new CD4 platform as the Mondeo and its North American twin, the Ford Fusion.
There won’t be any changes for the Focus to counter the threat of the new Golf, but Ford is using Paris to reveal a mid-life update for the Fiesta, adding its turbocharged 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine to the little hatchback at the same time. With the Peugeot 208 selling well in France and a new Clio about to be rolled into dealers all over Europe, Ford is wise to give the Fiesta an overhaul. Incidentally, we’ve seen the car’s new face before – last year’s Fiesta ST concept was a preview.
As for GM Europe, the Trax is a handy new import from Korea for the Chevrolet brand, while the Adam gives Opel and Vauxhall a rival for both the Mini and Fiat 500, sized somewhere between the two of them.
GM’s cost cutting is in plain sight with the Adam – astonishingly, there is no automatic gearbox option and even more shocking, no diesel either. Meanwhile, the manual gearbox has only five-speeds and I have been told that no high-performance (i.e. nicely profitable) OPC/VXR variants are planned. These extraordinary omissions mean this little car might be much admired but sadly ignored by those who happily spend EUR30,000 on a Mini. I best not twist the knife and mention the lack of a cabrio bodystyle – perhaps that and some more powertrain choices might follow for the Adam’s mid-life facelift around 2015.
Next up we have a former big-volume brand, now sadly overtaken by many makes, including several high-priced premium ones….can you guess….yes, it must be Fiat. The 500L is a worthy effort but we saw it at Geneva, though you couldn’t get access to the interior there. There are big sales expectations for this Mini Countryman rival and I do wish Fiat well with it, but where are the urgently needed models such as the Punto and Bravo replacements, a facelift for the four-year old 500, a C-segment rival for the Passat, a Qashqai or Juke rival….I won’t go on.
Well, I will in fact. No new models for Abarth, Alfa, Ferrari, Fiat, Lancia or Maserati at the largest motor show to take place in Fiat SpA’s home region – make of that what you will but it needs spelling out.
One of those brands which continue to rise in Europe, pursuing its ongoing strategy of continuous investment in new and additional products is BMW Group. New at Paris will be the Concept Active Tourer (squint and you can see next year’s Mercedes-Benz B-Class rival) and the Mini Paceman (think of it as a three-door Countryman – perhaps Audi has overlooked the potential demand for a hypothetical A3 allroad?).
BMW’s five-door hatchback concept previews a front-, rear- and/or all-wheel drive platform for the group, which will be known as UKL1 or Untere Fahrzeugklasse. Technically speaking, this is really an FWD architecture but in the Paris show concept, there is electric drive for the rear axle, which can be the vehicle’s sole source of power, or else it can be linked to the pull from the front wheels, themselves propelled by a combustion engine.
Mercedes-Benz has already announced far more cars for the show than has BMW. We’ll get our first look at the inspiration behind next year’s follow up to the smart fortwo courtesy of the forstars concept. That name is something to do with turning up at your friends’ homes, turning on the film projector in the forstars’ bonnet and creating an impromptu open-air cinema via the vehicle’s glass roof if I read the press release correctly? Stars in the sky, stars on the silver screen…don’t blame me, I don’t write press releases. Maybe it worked better in the original German.
What matters about the smart concept is its dimensions, which Daimler has mentioned – that alone is unusual for a concept. Could it suggest a production future? Not in this form, but here are the numbers: (length/width/height: 3,550/1,710/1,505mm). The wheelbase is claimed to be 2,470mm, which is 603mm longer than the current car’s.
If the forstars is the first sighting of the forthcoming Daimler-Renault-Nissan Edison platform, maybe I modestly request that you recall where you read it first? A reminder that Edison will be the basis for the next Twingo, which is to be twinned with the third generation fortwo (there will also be electric versions of both). A larger smart that will likely revive the forfour model name will be similarly introduced in 2013, to be built by Renault at the Revoz plant in Slovenia.
Paris might well signal something of a revolutionary change for electric cars: we already know that most middle-income buyers are reluctant to pay EUR 30,000 for a small plug-in hatchback, but richer customers might be more enthusiastic. That seems to be what Daimler is thinking as the production version of the former SLS E-Cell concept is set to appear at the Mondial.
The sub-branding of Daimler’s EVs are now to be known as Electric Drive (or electric drive if you’re a smart customer), as the other Benz EV, the Mercedes B 200 Electric Drive underlines. The plug-in B-Class is set for launch in 2014, Daimler says, while the rechargeable SLS should be taking on the future Audi R8 e-tron in 2013, I hear.
Another maker of premium-priced cars, and also presently Sweden’s only car brand, had been expected to pull the covers off the XC40 at Paris. In the event, the model in question has turned out to be called something different: ‘V40 Cross Country’. Doubly puzzling, the annual expected build of this V40 mock-roader is a mere 17,000 units for 2013.
You would have thought this would be the model to give US sales a handy boost but VCC says the main markets will be Europe and the PRC. Hold on, if Volvo Cars China is taking this C-segment crossover, why isn’t Volvo Cars North America? Guess that means it will be a high-priced but money-losing brand builder in China, readying buyers in this size class for what’s rumoured to be the forthcoming locally-built S40 – an as yet unseen four-door version of the V40 to compete with next year’s Audi A3 sedan.
The decision to withhold the new Cross Country from North America is odd. The US was for decades Volvo’s largest market. The weakness of the dollar against the euro (the V40 and V40 Cross Country are built in Belgium) initially discouraged Audi of America from selling the Spanish-made Q3 in the US but it’s to be launched there in early 2013. BMW is finally about to start selling another V40 rival in the US: the X1. Perhaps keeping the V40 and new V40 XC out of North America means Volvo has resigned itself to becoming a small-volume brand that sells only biggish cars there.
Hyundai and Kia won’t be showing any EVs at Paris, or at least none that they have announced, instead preferring to concentrate on new three-door variants of their C-segment hatchbacks, the cee’d and i30 twins. Kia pro-cee’d production starts in Slovakia in January, while its cousin the i30 three-door will be made in the Czech Republic at the Nošovice factory. That isn’t too far from Kia Motors Europe’s Žilina plant, where all cee’d derivatives are built. I should add that the Kia Carens is another world premiere at Paris. This new rival for the VW Touran will be sourced from Korea.
Japan’s largest automaker sells fewer cars in the EU than the combined Hyundai and Kia, which is one of the reasons why Toyota continues to launch ever more new products. The second generation Auris is making its motor show premiere at Paris. This Golf rival is already on sale in Japan where it’s a niche product – there, it’s a restyled five-door version of the Corolla sedan and wagon range.
In Europe, the new Auris has a job to do to improve on the only modest success of the outgoing car. This time around, there’s no three-door but a wagon body style is new – VW, Opel-Vauxhall, Ford, Renault, Hyundai, Kia and others have good sales in certain markets with their family estates – and Toyota thinks its unique offering of a hybrid wagon will tempt some buyers. Like the outgoing Auris Hybrid, the new hatchback and Tourer will sit at the top of the Auris price lists.
Of the remaining players, Nissan, long at the top of the list of medium-sized brands knocking on the door of the big brands, is having an oddly quiet Paris. The company took the decision a few years back to let Nissan Europe’s hugely successful Qashqai live until 2013. The replacement for what will by then be a seven-year old car should appear at either the Geneva or Frankfurt shows next year. Nissan’s only declared world debut for the show will be the TeRRA SUV concept which is meant to remind us that it is still working on fuel cell cars.
Honda is at last on the rise again in Europe, having had a dreadful few years and its still-new 1.6-litre turbodiesel engine will be the main attraction of its stand. Its appearance in the Civic will be followed up by the forthcoming CR-V 1.6 i-DTEC from early next year. This UK-built small SUV is also making its global debut at Paris – it has had modifications to its lights and interior compared to the model that was launched in Japan and North America in late 2011.
Other Japanese brands premiering new models include Suzuki, which will reveal a concept that hints at the next SX4. Suzuki will, incidentally, lose the contract to rebadge the current SX4 as a Fiat: the follow-up to the Sedici will instead be the twin of the future Jeep Jeepster. That’s a blow to Magyar Suzuki’s Esztergom plant so don’t be surprised if there is a new, additional product for the Hungarian factory to be announced in 2013: not necessarily a Suzuki-branded vehicle either.
Mitsubishi Motors will showcase its PHEV technology in the form of the snappily named Outlander Plug-In Hybrid EV concept. This will be sold in Europe and other regions in 2013.
Another niche manufacturer, Jaguar Land Rover, will have two important global debuts: the F-TYPE which is tasked with adding some much-needed pizzazz to a brand that sold fewer than 1,000 vehicles in Europe last month; and the fourth generation Range Rover. The new RR looks just right, is even more expensive than the outgoing model and should only add to the cash-printing machine otherwise known as the Land Rover brand.
Finally, here’s some cars that haven’t been announced but don’t be surprised if some of them appear at Paris: Aston Martin Rapide mid-life facelift, Audi A9 concept, Audi Q2 concept, Fiat 500XL, Jaguar XF-RS, Lamborghini Gallardo replacement, Maserati Levante, Maserati Quattroporte, Porsche Panamera Shooting Brake concept, Rolls-Royce Ghost Coupe concept, Škoda Octavia, Škoda Superb facelift, Volvo S80 facelift & Volvo V70 facelift. But not, I am told by Volkswagen, one of the cars I can’t wait to see: the new Golf GTI. Might have to wait until Geneva for that one.
For the full list of global debuts see the below list and check back next week for a comprehensive review of the show.
PLDB (Production Life Database) from just-auto is updated daily and can be rapidly searched for details of over 1,500 current and future global vehicles, from 187 makes/brands and 99 vehicle groups.
Paris show 2012 world premieres:
Abarth 695 Edizione Maserati: special edition, similar to former 695 Tributo Ferrari
Aston Martin DB9 facelift: more power (517PS), replaces the discontinued Virage
Audi A3 Sportback: the second bodystyle appears; a cabrio and a sedan to follow
Audi RS 5 cabriolet: same 331kW (450hp) 4.2-litre V8 as the two-year old coupe
Audi S3: 221kW (300hp) 1,984cc turbo, quattro drive, three-door body only
SQ5 TDI Audi exclusive concept: €92,000 in Germany, just 50 cars will be made
BMW Concept Active Tourer: plug-in petrol-electric hybrid, previews B-Class rival
Chevrolet Orlando Turbo: 1.4-litre petrol engine is new for this people carrier
Chevrolet Spark facelift: US and Canada’s 2013 Spark is similar but not identical
Chevrolet Trax: GM Korea to build it alongside Buick Encore & Opel/Vauxhall Mokka
Citroën C3 Picasso facelift: daytime LED lights one of the few changes
Citroën C8 facelift: a second, minor update for this ten-year old twin of the 807
Citroën C-Elysée: project M4, the Vigo-built small sedan twin of the Peugeot 301
Citroën DS3 Cabrio: on sale in 2013, built at Poissy on the same line as the DS3
Citroën DS3 Electrum concept: two 65kW motors, Panasonic 17.5kWh battery
Dacia Logan: second generation of Renault‘s low-cost sedan, M0 platform
Dacia Sandero: like the Logan, will be a Renault in Brazil, Russia & elsewhere
Fiat Fremont: Chrysler‘s 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine joins 3.6 V6 and 2.0 diesel
Fiat Panda 4×4: full-time system, two diffs and electronically-controlled coupling
Fiat Panda Natural Power: methane-petrol version, mostly for the Italian market
Fiat Panda Trekking: front-wheel drive only, but at least it looks sort of rugged?
Ford Fiesta facelift: first restyle since the Geneva 2008 launch, previewed by ST
Ford Mondeo: public debut (revealed to the media in Amsterdam on 6 September)
Geely Auto: not attending, a spokesperson told j-a on 3 September
Great Wall Motors: not attending, a spokesperson told j-a on 30 August
Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC: new UK-built diesel‘s first appearance in this five-door car
Honda CR-V (Europe): different interior to US-built model, new 1.6 i-DTEC diesel
Hyundai i30 three-door: different body but shares much else with Kia pro_cee’d
Jaguar F-TYPE: supercharged engines and a standard eight-speed auto gearbox
Kia Carens: third generation model (codename: RP) should be built at Kwang-Ju
Kia pro_cee’d: Žilina-built three-door bodystyle enters its second generation
Kia Sorento facelift: first update since its launch at April 2009’s Seoul motor show
Land Rover Range Rover: debuts new, lighter JLR platform, LWB body may follow
Lexus LF-CC concept: previews IS or GS coupe, powered by 2.5-litre hybrid engine
Lotus Cars: not attending
Maserati GranCabrio MC: 48mm longer thanks to front end from MC Stadale
Mazda6 wagon: the sedan debuted at Moscow show, hatchback won’t be replaced
Mazda6 ‘SKYACTIV-D’ 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel: meets Euro 6 norms
Mazda MX-5 facelift: went on sale in Japan in July but this is its motor show debut
McLaren P1 concept: successor to the F1 and said to be due for launch in 2013
Mercedes-Benz B 200 Natural Gas Drive: the 125l gas tank sits below the rear seat
Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive concept: has a claimed 200km range
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT: facelift & GT suffix are new, power rises to 435kW
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive: the production version of a former concept
Mini John Cooper Works GP: an eye-watering £28,790 for this 160kW hatchback
Mini Paceman: production version of Detroit 2011 show’s concept
Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid EV: MMC’s first petrol-electric 4×4 model
Nissan TeRRA SUV concept: fuel cell, three electric motors, portable instruments
Opel Adam: GM4403, an Eisenach-built three-door rival for the Mini & DS3
Peugeot 208 GTI: said to weigh 165kg less than the 207 GTI, 1.6 turbo from DS3
Peugeot 208 TYPE R5: 280hp 1.6 turbo, AWD, replaces 207 Super rally car
Peugeot 208 XY: luxury trim level, originally a concept at the 2012 Geneva show
Peugeot 301: Project M3, Dacia/Renault Logan rival, twin of the Citroën C-Elysée
Peugeot 807 facelift: the Citroën C8’s twin gets a minor update
Peugeot 2008 concept: preview of a Nissan Juke rival, on sale in March 2013
Peugeot Onyx concept: this clip reveals some of the details, more to come
Peugeot RCZ facelift: mid-life styling update but engines unchanged
Peugeot RCZ R Concept: preview of a 260hp 1.6-litre turbo version to come
Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Coupé & Cabriolet: all-wheel drive, 350hp 3.4-litre H6
Porsche 911 Carrera 4 S Coupé & Cabriolet: all-wheel drive, 400hp 3.8-litre H6
Porsche Cayenne S Diesel: 281kW (382hp) version of VW Group’s 4,134cc V8
Renault Clio: no three-door this time and the 900cc petrol turbo engine is new
Renault Espace & Grand Espace facelifts: the third restyle for these ten-year olds
SEAT Leon five-door: a three-door and a wagon to follow in 2013
SEAT Toledo: Škoda will build this five-door C-segment hatchback from Q4
Škoda Rapid: the twin of the new SEAT Toledo and unrelated to India’s Rapid
smart fortwo Brabus electric drive: the plug-in two-seater gets sports suspension
smart forstars concept: likely to be a preview of next year’s larger, 3rd gen fortwo
SsangYong e-XIV concept: the third small crossover that previews the ‘Korando B’
Suzuki S-Cross concept: most likely a preview of the next SX4 due in 2013
Toyota Auris: different styling details to model which went on sale in Japan in Aug
Toyota Auris Hybrid: new body and updated powertrain for this UK-built model
Toyota Auris Tourer: a wagon bodystyle and will be available as a hybrid too
Toyota Verso facelift: mid-life styling update and a re-engineered 2.0-litre diesel
Volkswagen Golf: after the 4 Sep unveiling at an event in Berlin, motor show debut
Volvo V40 Cross Country: V40-based crossover, surprisingly not badged ‘XC40’
Volvo V40 R Design: new trim level means bodykit, lowered suspension optional
