Selling dreams in Paris

With over 10,000 journalists, 1.5 million members of the public and 470 exhibitors from 26 countries in attendance, the biennial Paris Motor Show posts some impressive figures.

An automotive extravaganza, a petrol-head's dream, a showcase for the motor industry pick your own cliché, it's all of the above and more.

What it is not, however, is a place where there is much talk of global automotive over-production or of car-related environmental concerns.

Ah, non monsieur! This show is about selling the dream of new car ownership and giving us all to understand that, although the car we are driving seems perfectly adequate, it has in fact been superseded and rendered obsolete by something infinitely superior.

So, whether it be the privileged few who don't need to ask the price before ordering two, or the motoring masses operating on the slimmest of shoestring budgets, in Paris there was something for everyone.

At the top end of the scale the world premiere of new Ferrari F430 signalled the arrival of a new generation of eight cylinder models from the Maranello firm.

It also continues Ferrari's drive to integrate race-proven Formula 1 technology into its road cars, featuring an electronic differential (E-Diff) and a steering wheel mounted switch.

Free rein

Known by the F1 team as the "manettino," the switch will allow drivers to give free rein to their Schumacher fantasies, adjusting the vehicle's dynamics to suit different driving situations.

For those with slimmer wallets, products like Peugeot's innovative 1007 city car with its electric sliding doors provides evidence of how, even at the budget end of the scale, motorists are demanding more space, more light and more innovation in the most compact of packages.

Mercedes Benz, meanwhile, showcased their new CLS, a low-profile four door offering for the driver who loves a coupe shape but needs those extra doors. It is surely the best looking four-door Mercedes ever, but a word of warning.

The sight a portly middle-aged journalist bouncing his skull off the pillar behind the rear door served to illustrate that this is primarily a driver's rather than a rear seat passenger's car.

Also from Mercedes came a pair of attractive concept cars, the Vision R and Vision B which, to these eyes at least, looked pretty close to the finished article.

Mercedes somewhat optimistically claim to have created this Sports Tourer category (and why not? everybody else has) combining the best attributes of the sports saloon, estate, van and SUV. Throw in the camper van and you've got the full set!

Whatever the originality of the concept, the execution is superb and if a positive reaction from the press counts for anything, there's a good chance that these "Grand" and "Compact" Sports Tourers will see the light of day in production form.

Another heavyweight, Ford, unveiled the new version of its best-selling Focus model, of which four million examples have been sold worldwide since 1998. It's a sleeker design, slightly larger than its predecessor and strikes a more muscular pose.

Over on the Porsche stand there was a retro feel to the new 911 Carrera and its more powerful brother, the Carrera S. With their rounded headlights, reminiscent of earlier 911s, they are likely to find favour with Porsche purists.

The new Series 2 Boxster is a typical example of the Porsche philosophy of evolution rather than revolution. The appearance of the car has been refined rather than redesigned while power from the 2.7 litre engine is up 12 bhp to 240 bhp.

Bright spots

For those seeking news of significant new four-wheel drive vehicles there were slim pickings in Paris, with Land Rover's all new Series 3 Discovery being one of the few bright spots.

The new Disco inherits some premium-level SUV style from its Range Rover big brother and benefits from technological improvements including a patented Terrain Response system.

This allows the driver to choose one of five terrain settings via a rotary switch on the centre console: a general driving programme, plus one for slippery conditions (known as 'grass/gravel/snow') and three special off-road modes (mud/ruts, sand, rock crawl).

Volvo meanwhile presented its highly acclaimed XC90 with a new 4.4 litre V8 engine, the first eight-cylinder unit the Swedish manufacturer has produced since it was founded in 1927.

Hummer has expanded its range with the SUT or Sport Utility Truck a new body style for the H2 featuring a cargo bed in the rear that is adaptable and expandable at the touch of a button.

If you need to get those DIY supplies back home from Ace Hardware while following in the tracks of an Abrams Battle Tank, this is the one for you.

Perhaps the Hummer is symptomatic of one of the problems facing the automotive industry today. New products, filling niches within niches in a global marketplace that (with the exception of China) is struck in neutral.

It says something for the industry's inherent optimism, however, that to visit the Paris Motor Show you'd never guess that it was anywhere other than cruising along in the fast lane, sitting firmly in top gear.

Mark Appleton writes on business and automotive industry affairs for Gulf News; he was recently in Paris for the International Motor Show