Articles by Paul Gover in Paris

Just as the Euro-focussed alternative to petrol power starts to get some traction in Australia, with passenger-car sales forecast to improve to around 15 per cent of the country's annual purchases, Mercedes-Benz engine guru Dr Herbert Kohler says the diesel is in trouble. He believes stricter emission controls, and the rapidly-improving efficiency of small-capacity gasoline engines, could mean the end of diesels. "I have some doubts that diesel will survive the next five to ten years," says Kohler, the vice-president of e-Drive and Future Mobility at Benz. Kohler is still a fan of the current diesel powerplants and says Mercedes-Benz is making solid progress on a hybrid technology, called DiesOtto, that combines the best of the two combustion systems. Engineers have already run test drives and there is promise. "I'm convinced that will come in total and as described," Kohler says. "They are running on the test bench at the moment. We are driving the first cars. We are able to use both kinds of combustion methods, very smoothly to merge into each other. You cannot feel noise or shaking." Kohler says Mercedes is currently focussing on a range of technologies under the BlueEfficiency banner, from active aerodynamics to on-demand engine accessories - such as the alternator and power steering - and DiesOtto to improve the performance of petrol engines. There are also turbocharger and supercharger systems, smaller-capacity engines and baby two and three-cylinder motors. "At the moment we think that with gasoline engines that another 15 per cent (efficiency) is feasible. This is what we think today. Never say never…" he says. He is also convinced that BlueEfficiency works as an overall approach to better fuel economy and reduced emissions. "It is always some sort of lighthouse project," Kohler says.

Shiny supercars sit in the spotlights but it's the technology - and the electric vehicles on every stand - which tell the true story.  Every major brand is looking to improve performance while cutting fuel use and emissions, while also giving showroom shoppers worth considering as their next car. So the top-end action includes Ferrari and Jaguar hybrids and the latest of Audi's E-Tron electric cars, while the bottom-end push comes from new Nissan plug-ins and a good looking Kia concept called the Pop. Paris is always glamorous and the show is no different, reflecting renewed optimism among most of the world's carmakers - although the Americans are still noticeably timid. So BMW has a 6 Series concept that's a lightly-disguised production car, Mercedes-Benz has its new CLS four-door coupe, Peugeot reveals its 508 and Citroen has its good looking new C4. The dream machines are led by a carbon-fibre Lamborghini that looks like a Zorro caricature, Jaguar's great looking X-C75 - chosen as Car of the Show - and no fewer than five new Lotus sports cars. They are wonderful cars but do they point to the future? More likely they are the window dressing for the cars that really set the pace in Paris.  Nissan has a new spin-off from its battery-powered Leaf, the quirky little Townpod, and Renault has the great looking De-Zir coup concept that taps the same plug-in electric technology.  "DeZir stands out as an illustration of the brand's commitment to more emotional styling," says Renault.  The speedy Citroen Survolt also returns to Paris from high-speed test runs including a competition against a battery-powered motorcycle. Electric two-wheelers are popular in Paris with Smart, BMW and Peugeot, with both Smart and BMW confirming their contenders have a solid production future.  But there are also plenty of regular production cars at the Paris show which will soon be heading to Australia. Chevrolet has the Cruze hatchback, a car designed in Australia and set to go into production in Adelaide in the second half of next year. It looks good, the boot space is roomy, but the rear-seat space looks a little tight. Ford has the Focus XT as a tease for an all-new compact lineup, to be built in Thailand, there is the next-generation Suzuki Swift, and the hotrod Abarth versions of Fiat models are also looking good. Opel is promising it will start a major push into Australia with Holden and Saab finally confirms it is coming back dowunder in 2011 with a full factory operation and the all-new 9-5 as its first showroom contender.

But don't think about buying one. Only 80 cars are being built and the SA Aperta is already a sellout to customers with have been waiting as long as two years to see their new car for the first time. For once, because the car is only being built in right-hand drive, none of the newest Ferrari model is coming to Australia. The Aperta, which takes its name from the Italian word for open, is a celebration of the 80th anniversary of Ferrari's long-term design partnership with Pininfarina in Italy. The SA tag comes as a salute to Sergio and Andrea Pininfarina. It is the first V12-powered Ferrari convertible in five years, although the Italian brand is doing huge business now with the V8- engined, soft-focus California droptop. "The last time there was a V12 convertible was the Superamerica in 2005," says Edward Rowe, spokesman for Ferrari in Australia. But the SA Aperta is not the only Ferrari hero in Paris this week, as the California is going hybrid. There are no details yet but it will be something special from the Italian brand. It's the same with the SA Aperta, even if the car is silly expensive - more than $600,000 - and a sellout. Ferrari says it proves you can have a convertible that is as rigid as a sedan, and without any major weight penalty. Just as importantly, Ferrari promises that each of the 80 buyers will be able to make their car unique with a nearly-endless combination of colours and trims. But there is one shortcoming - the SA Aperta is not a new-age hardtop with a folding metal roof. Unlike the California, which has a clamshell top, the open-air 599 has an old-school folding fabric roof. But Ferrari even has an excuse - call it a reason - for the roof choice. "It has just a light soft top designed to be resorted to only if the weather gets particularly bad," it says. Pininfarina, first the designer Sergio and then his company with the same name, has been responsible for Ferrari bodywork since the 212 Inter of 1952. Among the more memorable Pininfarina designs for Ferrari are the 250 GT SWB of 1959, the 365 GTB/4 Daytona of 1968, the Dino 246 GT of 1968, the F40 of 1984, the F50 of 1995 and the one-off P4/5 of 2006. It is also responsible for the latest 458 Italia, which comes after the F355, 360 Modena and F430 line.

It's the Elite, a long-overdue successor to the Esprit, that promises true supercar performance with a pricetag in the $300,000-plus range. The car is a front-engined 2+2 coupe that is also being developed as a hardtop convertible. Deliveries are not expected until 2014. The Elite was dreamed up and developed by the team of ex-Ferrari staff who now control Lotus, led by managing director Dany Bahar. It's a massive step up from the road racer Elise and part of a plan to turn Lotus into a super-luxury brand to rival Ferrari and Lamborghini. "There will always be those who believe that Lotus should stick to small sports cars, but we didn't take the decision to design something like the Elite lightly. It's based on months of careful research and planning," says Bahar, "It's worth noting this sector has been very successful for us in the past, and now the Elite raises the benchmark higher still. Make no mistake, there's a definite market requirement for the Elite - it's the ultimate sports car feel with comfort and space." The Elite is expected to be followed by at least two other new models, also up and beyond the Elise. Lotus is not going fully public with details on the car until the first day of the Paris Motor Show but has released some teaser information. "There's no denying that the Elite is breathtakingly beautiful to look at, but its so much more than that: it's a car that over-delivers in all other aspects as well," Bahar says. "One could say it's a car of perfect contradictions; it's compact yet spacious, high performing yet low emitting, lightweight yet still reassuringly solid.'' The car has a 5-litre V8 engine - perhaps from Lexus - with 450 kiloWatts of power and 720 Newton-metres of torque, good enough for a top speed of 315km/h and a 0-100km/h sprint time below four seconds. There is also a model with an optional hybrid system, using a Formula One-style Kinetic Energy Recovery System, although Lotus says the CO2 emission of the regular car is still only 215 grams/kilometre.

Daimler believes technology changes, together with exploding global demand and environmental pressure, is forcing all carmakers to re- think every area of their business. "We are now witnessing the motor car being invented for the second time," says Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler and boss of Mercedes-Benz, just hours before the opening of the Paris Motor Show. Karl Benz became the father of the automobile when he filed his original motoring patent in Germany on January 29, 1886.  As the company prepares for its 125th birthday, and the same milestone in motoring history, Zetsche is calling for a declaration of January 29 as "Day of the Automobile' throughout the world. He also warns that Daimler has another patent - as momentus as the first - ready for filing in 2011.  But he has a lot more to say on the changes that are coming to motoring. "This year's Paris auto show has already been declared as historic. It might well be the last major auto show before real series-production electric cars hit the showrooms across Europe," Zetsche says.  "The time of pure showcars is over. Now we'll see who turns the buzz into business." For Daimler, that means everything from plug-in electric cars to a version of its S Class flagship that manages fuel economy of just 5.7 litres/100km and CO2 emissions of 149 grams/kilometre. There are also hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in every size from city runabouts to buses and giant trucks. "The inventors are re-inventing the automobile - and the impact will be revolutionary. Now, can you think of a place with a greater 'revolutionary' tradition than Paris? This automotive revolution will turn heads, but no-one will lose them."

It also uses a pair of gas-turbine engines, coupled to electric motors at each wheel, to stretch the potential of the range-extender hybrid concept first developed by General Motors with its new-age Volt. The result for the C-X75 is a 330km/h top speed, a 0-100km/h sprint time of just 3.5 seconds and - just as importantly - a 110 kilometre range on its lithium-ion batteries and a 900-kilometre distance between refueling. Everything about the C-X75 is at the edge of current technology and that's just what the car's designer, Ian Callum, wants. "I'm throwing a stone into the pond. We want to see what sort of ripples it makes and where those ripples take us," Callum tells Carsguide as he prepares to rip the covers off the C-X75. There are no plans to put the car into production, but the futuristic coupe is a clear vision of the potential at Jaguar under its new Indian owners. It also buries speculation that Jaguar is planning a Paris Show splash as the launchpad for its long-rumoured E-Type project. "This is not an E-Type. It's not even on our product plan," Callum says. "It's a pure concept car. We want to show what Jaguar can do." There are all sorts of historic cues and links to the C-X75, which celebrates 75 years of Jaguar design. The most obvious is to the stillborn XJ13, a mid-engined 1960s supercar that Callum describes as "possibly the most beautiful Jaguar ever made". But the C-X75 is not just about a gorgeous body. It is dripping with technology, from the mid-mounted drivetrain - with twin gas turbines and a 145 kiloWatt electric motor in each wheel - to a lightweight alloy chassis, active aerodynamics, a cab-forward driver location, forward-hinged doors with touch-sensor opening, a fingertip information control, and TFT gauges. The shocking silver Jaguar throws down a challenge to the other contenders for Car of the Show at Paris 2010, and now it's up to them - led by Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati - to respond.

... sixth element, just hours before the official opening of the 2010 Paris Motor Show. The Italian supercar company was widely predicted to unveil the successor to its Murcielago flagship - most likely as the Jota - in the French capital but has instead gone down the show car route. The Sesto Elemento could still become a production car but Lamborghini is not confirming anything beyond its show car. It says it weighs in at just 999 kilograms thanks to an almost-total reliance on carbon fibre - carbon is the sixth element on the periodic table - and uses a V10 engine and all-wheel drive to produce a 0-100km/h sprint in a sensational 2.5 seconds with a top speed well beyond 300km/h. "What the figures cannot convey... are the Sesto Elemento’s razor-sharp handling, its voracious turn-in and its huge braking power," says Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. "Extreme lightweight engineering, combined with extreme performance results in extreme driving fun. We put all of our technological competence into one stunning form." Development of the lightweight Lamborghini begins with a carbon fibre monocoque chassis and the car also uses carbon fibre-reinforced plastic for its entire front frame, exterior panels and crash boxes. The layout of the car is standard supercar, with a mid-mounted engine and radiators ahead of the front wheels, but the body shape is stealth-fighter edgy and left unpainted to highlight its carbon construction.