That was more like it. The 2024 edition of the Paris motor show felt comfortable in its own skin, not trying to be too big or apologising for who wasn’t there, rather embracing the brands that were there and fitting them into the right space accordingly.
Any talk of the demise of the motor show is counter intuitive; the more they get talked down, the less likely the are to survive, and the less opportunity the industry gets to come together with the latest cars and people who’ve made them
Still, the Paris show in 2022 felt so small and apologetic that it could have brought the whole concept of a motor show down with it, something that was also true of the returning (yet now axed) Geneva this year. The fact French president Emmanuel Macron turned up in 2022 felt the biggest news draw of the day.
Thankfully the 2024 edition was far more uplifting, building on the busy feel of the Munich show in 2023 Paris now alternates with. Even Tesla turned up. Macron did again, too, but this time just seemed to get in everyones’ way by constantly closing stands he wanted to visit.
After carrying the candle for both the Paris show in 2022 and Geneva 2024 almost single handedly, Renault Group went big again in its own backyard with significant new reveals from Renault, Dacia and Alpine.
The Renault 4 will look to follow the 5 as a successful retro reinvention, Alpine will at last go from being a model to a brand with the A390, while Dacia will look to conquer the C-segment in the way it has the B-segment with the Bigster.
Yet for once Renault was not alone. Stellantis brands Peugeot, Citroen and Alfa Romeo all had a significant presence at the show, too, yet it was their new sibling brand Leapmotor that got most of the attention. If you can’t beat the Chinese at making low-cost electric cars, then why not buy a company that does so yourself?
It’s a clever play from Stellantis, and outgoing CEO Carlos Tavares seemed like a man with a bit less on his shoulders than normal in his address at the show, the China ‘threat’ to Stellantis that two years ago felt like an existential crisis having been solved in an innovative way.
Volkswagen Group brands Audi, Skoda and VW all had stands, run by French local representatives rather than head office. Such a technicality wouldn’t bother paying punters: the latest models were all there. Mini displayed its new JCW models, too.
Several Chinese car makers were in attendance. BYD remains the best known and most credible for export, and unveiled its Sealion 7. Tavares was the first person of the day to visit the BYD stand, doing so before the show had opened to the public; it remains the brand the established car makers want to know the most about.
GAC, Skyworth and Aito were among the other Chinese brands at the show, but their cars and offerings didn’t stand out as much due to the lack of branding and recognisable features. Still, at least their stands were stands; Tesla’s ‘stand’ was so bad it was good, perhaps done ironically with cars plonked randomly in close proximity to one another with not even a carpet underneath to group them together.
