Paris hosts Europe’s international car show this year, and the French outdid themselves. The Mondial Automobile brought back everything we love in a car show.
2024 was a mixed bag of events: some did better than expected, others failed to meet our expectations. So far, we have only found one that unreservedly met our A list requirements and that was Rétromobile.
The Paris Car Show is organised every even year and in the odd years, the shift is taken over by the German International Automobile Exhibition IAA (currently residing in Munich). Historically, the Paris Car Show has been more compact than Frankfurt or Geneva, but it aims to go beyond the automotive and mobility, with special exhibitions following a dedicated theme. The show builds on the historical French tradition of the world fairs and in French, it even calls itself the Automobile World Fair.
The venue is on the outskirts of Paris, at the expo area by the Porte de Versailles’s metro station. There are plenty of car parks for those arriving by car, but even the website discourages visitors from arriving by car, and the prices grew sky high. We paid 30 euros for 8 hours in Parking 6.
If you are planning to immerse yourself, you can surely spend an entire day there. The exhibition is open for a week, and the opening hours are wide (closing at 19:00). Even if you are planning to pass by after work for negotiating your next car, you can still spend some quality time afterwards. There are even two extra-long days (Friday and Saturday) when the curtains fall at 21:00. This is a truly comprehensive exhibition with every aspect of a car show. This year’s Mondial filled four grand halls entirely, and that is a big change from the previous show.
Several manufacturers returned to Paris after a general absence last year. Most French brands prepared impressive stages filled with premieres, exciting concepts and even a cafe. Alpine and Dacia delivered a show that outshines the German import brands.
While Stellantis did not go all in, as DS and most of the Italians are missing, but at least they brought along Alfa Romeo. And they offered the best Coffee of the show.
Also, the VW Group and BMW Group returned and a few other brands, like Tesla and, surprisingly, Cadillac, aiming at a European relaunch. And this is a big difference, as two years ago, most exhibitors never sold a car in France (or ever since), depriving the event of its trade show nature. Now, actual car brands are there, with test centres and hostesses taking names.
That does not mean you won’t find brands you never heard of. Half a dozen Chinese brands came to Prais to showcase their products and premieres. If you have ever wondered what it’s like to be a Chinese party official sitting in a Hongqui, now you have a chance.
There are also a dozen specialised manufacturers, such as microcar specialists and race car manufacturers.
The industry is also back, with lovely stages showcasing components and technology.
The organisers arranged a few special exhibitions if you are not into new cars. The most prominent one enlists two dozen movie cars courtesy of a French museum.
The Matra Museum also brought along a dozen cars, including the iconic Espace with a Williams F1 engine.
On the ground floor of Hall 5, there is an exhibition on electrification and automotive history with many milestone cars.
And, of course, you get the usual goodies like a dozen simulator sites (some car brands brought one or two others two dozen simulators), die-cast models, electric go-karts and animations.
We will come back with much more in the coming days, in case you do not make it to the show, check back in a week…
