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Notes from the Floor of the 2016 Paris Motor Show

By Ed Stubbs - October 12, 2016

in Cars | Events

For over 100 years, the Mondial de l'Automobile has been the gold standard in motor shows. The biannual show clocked over 1.2 million visitors in 2014 and continues to draw the largest number of attendees of any auto show in the world—beating out both Tokyo, Detroit and Frankfurt. Despite the Paris Motor Show being the granddaddy of all motor shows—it debuted in 1898 as the world's first auto show—the event continues to be an arbiter for trends emerging from the industry, but for how long? Notable absences at this year's show include manufacturers like Ford, Mazda, Volvo and more. Here are six items of interest for auto industry watchers from the 2016 Paris Motor Show:

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The rise and rise of the X-over…

It's official—they're unstoppable. The list of cross-overs being launched at Paris covered pretty much every segment and dwarfed any other and included the Audi Q5, LandRover Discovery, Toyota CH-R, Suzuki Ignis, Skoda Kodiaq, BMW X2, Peugeot 3008, Peugeot 5008, Infinit QX Sport Inspiration, Mercedes-Benz EQ, and Lexus UX.

The effect on the existing automotive landscape is all around us, and if you needed any further confirmation: Peter Mertens, Volvo's R+D boss explained the company's sales strategy: "Volvo is on track to sell significantly more SUVs and crossovers than any other type of vehicle by the end of the decade."

Suzuki Ignis

Suzuki's stand was 'on the way' to BMW and Audi's: a stepping-stone through to the major players perhaps, but I found myself heading to the stand a few times—initially to take a look at what is now a rarity, the pint-sized Suzuki SC100, and then to take a closer look at the Ignis, apparently the spiritual successor to the SC100.

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Of course now it's a X-over instead of the mini sports-coupe of the SC, but there's a certain playfulness about the Ignis that brings a smile to the face.

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Designers talk about the importance of proportion and stance, something that's difficult to define but is linked to the position of the wheels relative to bodyside surfaces, and the balance and harmony of the silhouette. And in this respect, the Ignis is really nicely resolved.

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The juxtaposition of the side-stampings with the door cutline is brave. It shouldn't work, but it's unconventional and a little mischievous—characteristics that suit this little fighter well.

The Information Conundrum

The more technologically advanced cars become, the more challenging it is to manage how information is communicated to driver and passengers. Most compact and sub-compact cars in the European market have a touchscreen to control media, and in some cases, climate-control. Move on up to luxury segments and we're faced with a dilemma: to illustrate the technical complexity of the product through an equally complex HMI? Or create a fiendishly complicated hierarchy to control-visibility, so that the complexity is 'hidden' under layers of commands.

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Well, judging by Tesla and Porsche, the question is a long way off from being resolved. Porsche's Panamera has a beautifully-cosseting cockpit displaying some mind-scrambling information, accessed by gloss-black buttons flush with the main console: just the ticket for adjusting the seat-heating controls at 150mph on the Autobahn.

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Tesla at least is honest with their solution: build the car around the huge central screen. It's the brains of the car—indeed it's the defining aesthetic of their interiors so far. Comforting to generation-tablet for sure, but the distraction capability of this glowing centre-piece is quite something.

Peugeot's E-kick Hacks the Last Mile

One of the key elements of urban mobility is 'the last mile': the last-stage of a journey that's typically the most challenging—congestion, parking etc. So it's refreshing to see a mainstream manufacturer address this with a bespoke trunk-mounted electric bike, charged from the vehicle.

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A collaboration between MICRO and Peugeot, the E-kick can actually cover 12km/8miles, so has a useful range. Concepts have, for years, explored this last-leg of the journey, a notable example the 2007 Opel Flextreme with a pair of Segways taking up some serious package space, but the 3008 is out there now which is a small victory for mobility.

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A shame then that the mounting fixture in the trunk looked like a complete afterthought.

VW's Electric Architecture

VW's iD concept was the most-important car of the show for what it represents, rather than the vehicle itself, which, many designer's agreed, was a little too reminiscent of a cut-price BMW i3 for comfort.

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No matter—using a new MEB platform, the iD is the vision of a brand that plans on being all-electric by 2025. A bold vision indeed, though don't forget the all-electric reference applies to hybrid internal-combustion powered cars too. The key and potentially game-changing element with the MEB platform is the packaging opportunities it offers.

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As they have done with the MQB platform before it, VW will be able to build a whole cross-brand portfolio of cars with this architecture, and will be able to leverage cross car-line commonality to produce affordable and desirable electric cars. According to VW Group CEO Matthias Müller: "This is the future—nobody can say when it is a reality but we are working on it,"

The No-Show Show

The writing is on the wall: car-manufacturers are realizing that motorshows are not a great way to sell cars. This year there were some big-league absences at the party: Ford, Mazda, Volvo, Bentley, Lamborghini..and many gave explicit financial reasoning behind their decision:

'Ford isn't attending the Paris motor show in 2016. We are diverting the money we would have spent there into events more closely aligned with our consumers—like the Go Further 3 event later in the autumn.'

Lamborghini: 'We look very closely at the motor shows we need to be at and where our customers are. We will not be at Paris. We need to have the best ROI each year.'

Questions often arise about the relevance of the traditional motorshow format: huge corporate stands, bright-lights, big budgets and beautiful women. What's interesting is the explanations by the OEMs, a clear indication that there are better ways for them to reach their customer base, to communicate their corporate message and to grow the brand.

Car-makers are desperate to attract millennials, a group that are key to any brand's survival, and market-research is feeding back that focused events, branding tie-ins, and targeted endorsements are becoming a more effective approach to meeting future customer interests. It's possible that future motorshows will be much more compact affairs.

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Ed Stubbs

8 years ago

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Drew, some great insights! "The VW iD only stole the show because of what it represents, not what it looks like or does." I think that's probably true..but you can guarantee that VW have the resources and skill to create a game-changer with the production version of this car, likely the next-gen Golf. What it does is innovative, and what it looks like, at the moment, is not. It's good to see a move away from identifying powertrain and platform innovation with merely with a sliver of blue, or green though - more radical architecture and design is needed!

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Drew Hugenot

8 years ago

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It's interesting to me to see that there are more crossovers now than ever before. This seems like something that should definitely happen, however I feel like it might be happening seven years too late. What I mean by this is that it's understandable that car companies want to make more compact and fuel efficient vehicles, but still have the room for passengers and cross-country cruises that require multiple bags and a full trunk. The reason why I say its something that is happening seven years too late is because shouldn't we have already realized this and tried to make more of a push into alternative fuels? As opposed to investing research, time, and money into vehicles that may get you from point A to point B, but isn't light on money in a time when everyone feels they need to "save, save, save". My point is, speed up the process. I feel that there are many people in this world who want alternative fuel. If car companies are trying to reach millennials, shouldn't they think of new concepts as opposed to remaking old cars?
Tablets are now the new command center! That seems great, right!? But is this just another selling point to the millennials? My grandmother, who doesn't own a cell phone because she thinks they are too complicated, would never buy or even lease a car with a touch screen dash. In her mind, it would be too complicated, overrated, and pointless. She's been driving for years without a touch screen, why would she need it now? Another interesting point I thought of while reading about the touch screen dash is how large they are and how important they seem to be to the car. True it is the brain of the car, but at what point do we say the car doesn't need a brain, the driver should be that brain? Especially when we live in a world now that is so against driving and using your phone. Isn't the touch screen dashboard just an excuse for someone to say, "No it's okay I wasn't using my phone to check Facebook, I was using my cars dashboard!" At what point is it just a huge distraction to the driver and those around them or a design need? Instead of not having to look to change the temperature in the car, drivers will now have to look down at the dash, push multiple buttons to change the temperature, and then push multiple buttons in order to get back to the screen they were using. Now I will admit, the touch screen dashboard is a sweet thing. Take it from me, someone who drives a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo that has a dashboard with three nobs, and two buttons aside from the radio. It's easy and simple to use with little distraction to the driver and those around them. But my girlfriend drives a 2012 Chrysler 200 with a touch screen dash. The dash not only has ten times the buttons and nobs as my car, but also a touch screen with more buttons on there to push. However, the feeling of going from three nobs to a touch screen is amazing! You do feel like you have complete control of the car and every little thing it does. It looks great and makes the driver feel as if they are driving a luxury vehicle around. But again, is this just a selling point to millennials or is it something that is absolutely needed?
Speaking of things that should be questioned on if they are needed, the electric bike that can recharge directly from the car? Really? Why? Who in a major populated city is driving to work? And if they are driving, do they absolutely need this bike or is it just as likely they have a parking spot reserved for them as close to the doors of the building as possible? Also, why do you need a rechargeable bike? Aren't you supposed to be the one generating the power to move the bike? Isn't that why people ride bikes? To get the exercise from the bike as opposed to riding the bike and having it take you wherever you please. Isn't it just a miniature scooter at this point? To me, this seems like a ridiculous thing to put in a car, and is one of those designs that does absolutely nothing to improve the car itself.
In a world so set on making defeating climate change and making a greener tomorrow, I found it odd that there was only one car that is electric to be talked about. Not only that, it wasn't even talked about much, it was just highlighted because of the things it could possibly do. The VW iD only stole the show because of what it represents, not what it looks like or does. What I did like to hear is that finally a company is trying to be 100% electric by 2025. To my own knowledge, this hasn't been confirmed by any other major motor company and it's nice to have at least one company make a push.
Finally the last thing I found interesting is how big name companies such as Ford, Mazda, and Volvo weren't at the show. Many state it is due to financial reasoning and wouldn't make sense to spend the money. Now that car companies are trying to get more and more millennials, are they attempting to use the same strategy as tech companies? Take Apple for instance, they will have roughly two to three events a year. But instead of attending shows with multiple competitors and thousands of consumers, they now host their own events. Allowing Apple to invite who they want, bring awareness to a certain target audience, and also are only showing off their new items as opposed to competing with a handful of other companies at the show and keeping the cost of the show effect. It would only make sense for car companies to use the same strategy.

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Notes from the Floor of the 2016 Paris Motor Show

The rise and rise of the X-over…

Suzuki Ignis

The Information Conundrum

Peugeot's E-kick Hacks the Last Mile

VW's Electric Architecture

The No-Show Show

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