Palais 5 is the traditional home of Mercedes in Paris, and this year, BMW and Jaguar also joined with Tesla and Chinese newcomer GAC.
Mercedes – noblesse oblige…
Mercedes excels in every motor show I ever saw them attending. In Frankfurt, the company rents an entire five-floor building with cinema, a bar, a resto and of course dozens of cars, in a total surface that is larger than that of a flagship dealership in some countries.
In Paris however, they politely leave the Grand Palais to the local champions, and sets up a stage with many features like a bar and a resto upstairs.
In 2018, they brought exciting world premiere cars and a breathtaking concept car, a modern electric silver arrow.
Now, for the first time, (patient) visitors can sit in the new Class B, that had its premiere in Paris…
… and (very patient) visitors might also snatch a seat in the new brand GLE SUV…
… and a world-premiere electric car with the shape of a fully-fledged SUV (and with it some practicality).
The EQC is roughly comparable to an electric powered GLC, with a more modern interior (that we might probably find after the upcoming facelift (at least I hope so 🙂 ).
The BMW – the most important premieres of the show
BMW’s presence in Paris cannot be compared to the massive show they pull off in Frankfurt. I dare to risk, that the stage of this year, also underperforms next to the one I saw in Brussels earlier this year.
The next door neighbors, the Jaguar-Land Rover Group, offers a similar a show, without any significant premiere.
The Bavarians however, brought several, the biggest launch of the brand is the world premiere of 3er. This car is a genuine global seller, successful in several markets, but I can’t help notice how much the world changed in a few decades. Of course, there was a lot of media attention around the car, given its market position. Nevertheless, it did not steal the show, that I attributed to the the similarity to past and current Bimmers.
The task of stealing the show task was probably assigned to the brand new luxury coupé from Bavaria, “the 8”, that like the black hole of media attention despite being put into a background section.
The frontal assault was entrusted to a set of white cars, like an electric X3 concept, some coupés with M stripes, and I8 Cabrio, for which the river no longer needs specialised training).
The 8 is an exciting car, undoubtedly the most spectacular one of the BMW universe in Paris.
Jaguar and the many forms of efficiency
Jaguar illustrated well, how to use available resources efficiently. Their stage was able to impress visitors, without any significant premieres.
There is the brilliant I-Pace, a Formula E car, enhanced with holograms and projectors, and they are all here. I had a lot of fun here as a visitor, but journalists will leave rather shorthanded, in the absence of any major premieres.
I cant blame Jaguar for that though. The company just went through the most dynamic model offensive in its history, but I guess now, the management is in full damage control thanks to big politics, without the big market breakthrough I expected.
The sales of Landy continue to be strong, without being particularly impressed with show elements on their stand (I do not even remember them at first).
Tesla – sparks but no firecrackers
The main feature of the Tesla Stage was the Model 3. And one really does not need more to attract a lot of intention. It is a car like no other, and that is a big thing to say about a premium middle class saloon…
The interior is again very unconventional, with its sleek design and very spartan materials. No other car manufacturer would bring such a spartan version to an international car show. The sober black plastic of the steering wheel reminds me of budget base spec cars of the early 2000’s.
I can’t imagine that Tesla would not market a version with a better interior (for a surcharge I suspect). I could say that the (even by Tesla standards) extra large screen does steal the show, but in this case, there is literally nothing else to argue for, not even an instrument panel. Anyway, if the Model 3 is half as good as the bigger ones I’ve tried, the conventional automakers might have a few sleepless nights.
GAC – enter the alibi manufacturers
I already noticed in Frankfurt the strong presence of manufacturers that I never heard of, (in contrast to the aching absence of serious players). These Asian companies burn hundreds of thousands of euros on a Paris presence, without actually selling any cars on the EU market, or in the case of some of them, even anywhere in the world.
I am not familiar with the exotic GAC brand, and I was not aware of their existence previously, but they brought together a decent and serious show, something that some of the well-established European and Japanese brands failed to do this year.
