Despite slipping sales, overcapacity issues and union strife in Europe, automakers will always have Paris. A bit down on action compared to years past, the 2012 Paris Motor Show nonetheless served as the venue for a number of significant production and concept car debuts. For your reading convenience, Leftlane has put together a comprehensive list of all of the introductions complete with live photos from the Paris Expo.
Highlights
While it's just a concept car for now, the wild P1 supercar will take to the streets next year as the successor to the McLaren F1 - those are some seriously oversized shoes to fill. Its looks definitely aren't for everone, but we have no doubt that the production version of the P1 will crush all manner of performance records.
Jaguar's first true sports car in ages, the F-Type impresses with a trio of potent supercharged motors, lightweight aluminum construction and a driver-focused cabin. Oh, and did we mention that it's gorgeous?
The Active Tourer previews what some Bimmer fans will intrepret as a sign of the impending apocalypse - a new range of front-wheel-drive BMW vehicles. The concept's platform will underpin an upcoming European-only compact MPV, and it's also expected to form the basis of a future U.S.-market model.
The new Range Rover gains an Evoque-inspired face and a larger interior, but perhaps more important is what the iconic luxury SUV has lost: roughly 700 pounds (!) of curb weight. Expect fuel economy, acceleration and handling all to improve thanks to the significant reduction in mass.
Riding on the new MQB modular architecture that's set to underpin a vast number of Volkswagen Group models, the seventh-generation Golf is about 200 pounds lighter than its predecessor and approaching Audi levels of luxury inside. Its understated yet handsome look doesn't represent much of a departure from its predecessor, but that's definitely intentional: Volkswagen knows better than to mess with the success of one of the world's best-selling models.
Hoping to transform the Mazda6 from an also-ran into one of the top players in the highly competitive midsize sedan segment, Mazda has redesigned the four-door around its fuel-efficienct SkyActiv technology philosophy and added a dose of its fetching new KODO design language. We're just hoping that it drives like the excellent first-generation model.
Complete list of introductions:
2013 Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4/Edizione Technica
Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive
2014 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
