PARIS MOTOR SHOW 2014: Full preview

ALFA ROMEO
Giulietta facelift. The Italians are being coy on this one, with not even the local press leaking details of how Alfa plans to make its ordinary small hatch match the best from Germany and Asia.

Yet a facelift, complete with powertrain upgrades, is exactly what is on the cards for Paris. We just don't know exactly how much more power or, just as importantly, how much more equipment is on the agenda. Stand by for our first drive straight after the show.

ASTON MARTIN
Vanquish Carbon Edition. Unique version of Aston's top-shelf coupe will break cover at the French extravaganza, perhaps alongside the born-again Lagona – a limited-edition luxury limousine based on the Rapide sedan just for Middle Eastern sheiks.

AUDI
TT Roadster and A6 facelift. There was a small possibility of Audi holding this back from Paris for the more convertible-friendly environs of the Los Angeles show in November, but with the new R8, RS 3 and A1 facelift all waiting for another day, the 'other' Bavarians needed the TT Roadster to give them some production oomph on the stand.

The TT Coupe isn't even on sale yet (it won't be in Australia until February, followed soon after by the TT S Coupe), but the TT Roadster is already committed to an early 2015 European launch. Expect the new TT Roadster Down Under a few months later.

There will be the same list of four-cylinder engines as we will (eventually) find in the coupe, topped by a 200kW version of the 2.0-litre in the TT S, and the same suspension and transmission systems, too.

Audi is also expected to reveal a new entry-level 1.8-litre engine for both TT body styles.

For the midlife A6 makeover there will be mild upgrades at the front and rear, some interior trim fixes and a facelift gives the middle-to-big Audi a chance to dip into the well of more efficient engine tech. But there will be no plug-in hybrid.

Concept car. Audi is very quiet on this at the moment, but sources have confirmed a concept car is on the way and it's based around the upcoming second-generation Q7 architecture. Expect it to be something to tackle the X6 BMW.

BENTLEY
Faster Mulsanne. It's not quite ready to show the de-uglified SUV in Paris so Bentley is planning on something a very small sliver of the market is crying out for: a faster version of the Mulsanne limousine.

Born-again Bentley CEO Wolfgang Durheimer is on record as saying we should expect the Mulsanne to have developments unveiled at motor shows this year and we're running out of them, with only Paris and Los Angeles left of any significance.

The GT3 version of the Continental GT is already out there, Bentley showed the GT3-R at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and that leaves the door wide open for the Mulsanne.

Bentley insiders have suggested the uprated Mulsanne would see a development of the 6.75-litre twin-turbo V8 delivering another 50hp, which will pull the 0-100 km/h time of the two-tonne-plus barge below five seconds.

Expect some chassis and suspension tuning as well, though badging and body changes are
expected to be subtle.

BMW
2 Series Convertible. Following along BMW's new naming structure, the 2 Series cabrio is really a replacement for the 1 Series Convertible. They're the same size (almost, the new car is a touch bigger) with the same target audience and for a similar price.

But don't worry. It's still rear-wheel drive, despite sharing the same naming profile as the front-drive 2 Series Active Tourer.

BMW will also stage the world debut of its new X6, even though it was revealed a while ago, plus new four-cylinder diesel engines for the BMW 5 Series, a special edition of the 7 Series limousine and new BMW ConnectedDrive advances.

French debuts will include the 2 Series Active Tourer and i8 plug-in hybrid sports car.

CITROEN
Citroen Divine DS concept. A big, sultry new hatch concept is said to point a future design direction for the French brand,. We also hear a facelifted version of the DS3 could also appear alongside the Divine, which reportedly powers its front wheels with a 160kW turbo-four.

FERRARI
There is talk of the 458M (if that's what it will be called) facelift for the 458, with a twin-turbo V8 lifted from the California and tweaked for more revs and power.

There is also talk of a convertible version of the 458 Speciale, largely because Ferrari's go-fast specials usually end up with a convertible version. That usually only happens in the last year of the production cycle, though, and Ferrari's gorgeous coupe isn't quite there yet.

Ferrari, as usual, isn't being drawn on speculation, insisting it isn't showing anything new at Paris “though that might change later in September”. As ever, Ferrari is Ferrari.

FIAT
500X. If you ever wondered just how far Fiat could stretch the Cinquecento 'brand', here is your answer, because even Fiat admits the 500X is the very top end of it. Yes, the lumpy crossover SUV will step across the icky 500L to become the biggest and last model to wear the '500' badge.

A sister car to the Jeep Renegade, the 500X will look a lot tougher than any other 500 (not hard, admittedly, with the 500 Convertible unashamedly one of the most feminine models around), though it will keep visual links by retaining a version of the 500 hatch's 'face'.

Its engine and transmission ranges will be revealed in Paris, but expect everything from MultiAir diesels and TwinAir petrols to take on mini-SUVS like the Holden Trax, Ford EcoSport and Nissan JUKE. It's due here in early 2016.

FORD
New S-MAX and facelifted C-MAX. A lot of things Ford only sells in Europe are about to become a lot more relevant to Australia, but the C-MAX probably isn't one of them.

Even though BMW and Mercedes-Benz have decided practical, front-drive people-mover-ish shapes are on an upswing, Ford has so far stayed away, even though the C-MAX (and the S-MAX) has long vied for best-in-class honours in Europe. This time around, though, the C-Max is too deep into its product cycle to bother Ford Australia's product planners. Unfortunately.

Larger than the C-MAX, the S-MAX takes the people-mover concept and adds sex and handling, which worked a treat in its first generation. This is the second-generation version and it sits on the same Ford C/D platform as the Fusion and the Mondeo, so you should expect it to have similar powertrains, too.

With no Falcon or Territory on Ford's long-term books, the search for a seven-seat Ford could do worse than ending up here.

HONDA
Civic facelift and Euro HR-V. Honda is trying to take the sluggish-selling hatch into sexier waters by moving the visuals closer to the Type-R. Time will tell.

We saw Japan's version, called the Vezel, and now Honda's all-new Jazz-based small SUV will make its Euro-spec debut called the HR-V – the same name it will be called when it arrives here in early 2015.

HYUNDAI
i20. Not only is this Hyundai's new opponent for the new Mazda2 and just-facelifted Volkswagen Polo and Toyota Yaris, but it will serve as Hyundai's 2015 World Rally Championship contender as well.

Designed and engineered under the same regime that delivered the cracking i10, which remains under consideration for Australia, the i20 will have an all-new chassis, suspension and design, but the powertrain will be largely carried over from the existing car. The major exception to that will be the adoption of the tiny 1.0-litre engine from the i10 as the entry-level operator.

The only trouble is that Hyundai Oz is still trying to squeeze all the numbers into the right boxes to get the price where it wants it, so it's not yet a locked-in starter for Australia. In the meantime, the old i20 continues on sale here.

Hyundai has also revealed a sketch of a sexy i20 'coupe', which will probably emerge as the three-door version of the i20 five-door.

There are whispers Hyundai will also reveal a facelifted i40 in Paris.

INFINITI
Q80 super-sedan concept. The 'other' prestige Japanese brand has released teaser shots of an extravagant show car that will confirm Infiniti's intention to compete with the Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7 Series and Audi A8 (and Lexus LS) with its own range-topping luxury limousine.

JAGUAR
XE. There is so much information out there on this car that it feels like it has already been launched. The trickle program from Jaguar has been masterful, patient and infuriating, delivering little bites of info that have never quite added up to a whole car.

Until Paris, that is. Jaguar's 3 Series/C-Class/A4 rival will finally be shown to the public in the metal in the French capital, complete with its much-vaunted iQ AI light-weight chassis and three-quarters-aluminium body, so if it's not sub-1450kg, we'll be asking why not. 

The S-badged V6 version was showcased at this week's official unveiling in London, but for Paris should reveal a fuel-sipping 2.0-litre turbo-diesel that will emit less than 100g/km of CO2 for the fleet customers in Europe, acting as a foil for the hotshot SVR V8 to tackle the M3, C 63 and RS 4.

The same chassis architecture will be used beneath Jaguar's first SUV, due in 2016, and the next XF.

KIA
Sorento. The big-selling Korean SUV will see its third generation debut in Paris and it will be larger than ever. It will sit on an all-new platform, so expect more interior space than before along with a new design language that takes its cues from the Kia Cross GT concept from the 2013 Chicago Auto Show.

It's a seven-seat design that is 95mm longer than the current car (with a 4780mm overall length) and the wheelbase is 80mm longer at 2790mm. The sleeker design sees the roof drop 15mm over the current car, too, and though Kia is claiming a big step forward in interior materials, the Koreans are being stingy with their powertrain information.

It is expected on sale in Australia in the first quarter of 2015.

LAMBORGHINI
Concept car. Something they've never done before (even as a concept) is being promised for Paris, which rules out a large SUV, a four-door coupe, a four-door sedan, a front-engined grand tourer or any number of mid-engined coupe variants.

The possibilities remain tantalising, though, including a turbo car, a hybrid car, a smaller SUV or a tricycle.

LAND ROVER
Discovery Sport. Exit Freelander, enter the Discovery Sport. Due on sale in Australia next May (abetted by being built in right-hand drive first), the engineering and design replaces the Freelander and so does the new name, creating a sub-brand of Discovery in the same way Evoque created a sub-brand of Range Rover.

It's said by insiders to be significantly lighter than the Freelander, thanks to big swathes of aluminium throughout, and it will run Jaguar Land Rover's new family of four-cylinder Ingenium powerplants.

LADA
X-Ray and Vesta. Just to prove Russian heavy industry hasn't all been focused on new machinery to sneak into the Ukraine, Lada is trying to recapture the sometimes-questionable magic of the Niva.

The compact SUV will be on sale in Europe in early 2016 and is the car Lada is hoping will spearhead a Dacia-like push into non-traditional markets (which means traditional markets for everybody else, like Europe, the US and possibly even Australia).

Renault-Nissan now owns 67.1 per cent of a holding company that controls almost 75 per cent of Lada's parent company, Avtovaz. And Renault-Nissan owns Dacia, so it's played this eastern Europe-to-western Europe game before.

Designed by an Englishman, the X-Ray is the first strike in Lada's public reinvention by the French-Japanese giant and the motivation is almost certain to be French as well. Under the skin, it's mostly Dacia Sandero Stepway, so it's, err, proven technology.

The Vesta sedan, meantime, will join the hotly contested B-segment at 4.4 metres long and will also be on sale in late 2015 in Europe.

It will be the basis for a hatch and a wagon (and a World Touring Car contender) and sits on a modular chassis architecture Lada plans to use on another three models.

MASERATI
With the new Quattroporte and all-new Ghibli sedans selling like hotcakes worldwide, it could be time for Maserati to show a closer-to-production version of its first SUV, the Levante due in Europe next year and in Australia in 2016.

Then again, it might show a V8-powered Ghibli GTS.

MAZDA
Mazda2 and MX-5. It's a huge and critical show for the big-selling Japanese company, with two of its most important (for very different reasons) models being replaced.

The first is the Mazda2, which goes on sale here late next month and shares much of the chassis and electronic tech from the larger Mazda3 and Mazda6.

Like Jaguar, Mazda has been giving the fourth-generation MX-5 the big tease for half a year, including showing the full, naked chassis at the New York motor show earlier this year.

Since then we've learned it will be powered by a smaller 1.5-litre engine, but with kerb weight shrinking to just 1020kg, the new MX-5 will offer more ponies per kilo, and there's a new 2.0-litre to come.

MERCEDES-BENZ
C-Class Cabriolet, B-Class facelift, S 500 PHEV and AMG GT. They've already shown the C-Class wagon and we've already driven the sedan, so the next in line is the Cabriolet, but will it be there? Nobody at Mercedes is saying…

One car that might be a surprise omission is the C 63 AMG. Originally scheduled to debut at Paris, the hot-rod sedan has been pulled strategically to clear more headspace for the AMG GT and will instead be seen early next year.

Mercedes-Benz Australia somewhat antagonistically credited BMW with lifting the sales of its stodgy B-Class, though the current car is no match for the 2 Series Active Tourer on just about any level. That's why it's being upgraded, with better interior materials, new electronics in the multi-media systems and a less boring look.

With the production S 500 Plug-In Hybrid due on sale early next year, Benz thinks it's about time the world knew what its version of a hybrid limo looks like. And, bewilderingly, it looks like 30km of pure electric range at a time when the Audi A3 has 50km and the industry is settling on between 40 and 50km as the kind of minimum daily electric range a plug-in needs.

Still, Benz says the petrol-electric luxobarge is good for a tick over five seconds to 100 km/h and can still stretch out beyond an old-school 100mpg.

Mercedes-Benz is also about to join the very long list of car companies who have taken on the Porsche 911 in a head-to-head battle. Will the venerable rear-engined coupe emerge to retain its benchmark title? Not if AMG CEO Tobias Moers has his way.

The AMG GT, he insists, is more than a cut-down, shorter, cheaper version of the discontinued SLS. He insists it's a game changer. It could well be, but it remains a cut-down, shorter, cheaper version of the SLS, albeit with stand-alone styling and a new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 derived from the A 45 AMG's 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine. And it will be the star of Mercedes-Benz's Paris efforts.

MITSUBISHI
The Japanese brand has already issued a teaser image of a concept based on its sexily-named Outlander PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) and, while we don't know how serious it will be, it flags Mitsubishi's intention to further develop its effective PHEV tech.

Paris might not be the place to reveal the new-generation triton ute that's just around the corner.

NISSAN
Pulsar. Is the once-mighty Pulsar about to shake off its 'boring' tag? Nissan will let the world decide in Paris when it takes the wraps off its all-new Corolla/Golf rival, even if it's not yet guaranteed to replace our under-done Pulsar Down Under.

We could also see the high-performance NISMO version, with around 200kW to take on the Golf GTI, Focus ST and Megane RS 275 Trophy.

OPEL
Corsa. So here's a car that's suddenly increasing in relevance to Australians. This is Opel's biggest seller across the continent (and, as a Vauxhall, in the UK) and will be on sale just days after the Paris show opens.

It targets Ford's Fiesta and Volkswagen's Polo and the highlight is expected to be its new 1.0-litre, turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine in 66kW or 85kW guises, both with 170Nm of torque. The range will also have naturally aspirated 1.2- and 1.4-litre petrol engines, plus a 1.4-litre turbo. There's a go-fast VXR version in the wings, too, and no reason the OPC hot-shop won't tweak one in the future.

Holden has confirmed at least three Opels will wear the Lion badge in 2015, including the Astra, Insignia and Cascada, but it hasn't ruled out an entry-level tiddler, which could be badged as a Barina -- just as it was in the mid-1990s.

PEUGEOT
Where do we start? Peugeot will have a huge presentation for its home, led by a warm-hatch GT version of its new 308 small car, which could also be revealed in hotter GTI or even R (production) forms.

Alongside the 308 GT, Peugeot has confirmed it will show a reskinned European version of its sexy Exalt concept, which heralds a replacement for the 607 flagship, as well as facelifted 508 and 3008 models.

Pug will also reveal the latest evidence of its efforts to produce a vehicle that sips less than 2.0L/100km, via the compressed air-powered 208 Hybrid Air 2L concept.

PORSCHE
Cayenne facelift. It's not going to take long before this turns up in Australia, with dealers already opening the books on it. Besides some interior and exterior design fiddles, expect the plug-in S E-Hybrid to sign on for duty, while the conventional powerplants have been reworked for efficiency rather than added power.

Due here in November, the new Cayenne will span a power range from 193kW to 382kW, with the Cayenne S, Turbo, Diesel, S Diesel and S E-Hybrid all confirmed starters.

We've heard Porsche may also slip its new 2.0-litre turbo boxer four into the Boxster for Paris.

RENAULT
Big news for the Renault on home turf will be its all-new Espace people-mover, which is under serious consideration for Australia, but expect a plethora of other technology and safety exhibits.

SKODA
Fabia. No surprises here, because Skoda has dived in a month before Paris to show essentially all the juicy bits of the new Fabia before the motoring websites get swamped with info.

The Fabia hatch is effectively a cheaper, rebodied Polo, so it's no surprise that it should effectively mirror what Volkswagen has done with its little big car.

Playing your hand early is a very Skoda way to get noticed before the bigger chip stacks start betting and it already hinted at this very car with its Vision C concept from the Geneva motor show in March.

It's 90mm wider and 30mm lower than the previous model and while it's the exact same length, it has a longer wheelbase promising more interior space. Cargo area has grown from 315 litres to 330 litres or up to a maximum of 1195 litres.

There is a wagon version on the way for Europe and the slow-selling RS version has been ditched, so bad luck for the hot-hatch brigade.

Due here in the second half of next year, the new Fabia will have two different outputs from its VW-sourced 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine, while there are two versions of the 1.2-litre TSI as well. All the petrol motors are borrowed from the Polo, as are the two versions of the 1.4-litre TDI.

SMART
Fortwo and forfour. Smart has already gone big on this, renting out half of Berlin to give the captured press (no, literally) a static tech day. And now it's in Paris.

The successor to the urban cult-car, the fortwo is loosely based on the old Roadster's chassis architecture, which it shares with Renault's Twingo.

Now that everybody knows what smart actually is, it's about time the brand found a way to make a profit. Is this the car to do it?

Forfour. See everything about the Fortwo, but with two extra doors. While it's more 'smart' in concept and engineering than the last, Mitsubishi-based forfour, it's still a less cohesive-looking machine than its littler brother.

Neither model has yet been confirmed for Australia, though parent company Daimler is very interested, provided it can get it below $20,000. It sold just 38 smarts here in the first half of this year.

SUZUKI
Vitara. Paris will see the return of a nameplate that was once much loved and respected in Australia, but that was back in the day when only Suzuki and Daihatsu were doing small SUVs.

The Vitara is not quite the iV4 (from the 2013 Frankfurt show) concept car's production brother, but it's close. It's built to take on the JUKE in Europe, so it's on the small side for an SUV, even for a Suzuki SUV. Expect powertrains to be similar to the new SX4 S-Cross.

Base versions will be two-wheel drive, though there will be an all-wheel drive option with the AllGrip system Suzuki prefers, with power coming from 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.

VOLKSWAGEN
Passat. The static reveal has already been done and dusted, but that won't stop Volkswagen going big on its mid-sizer.

It's a troubled one for Volkswagen, because demand for this category of car is shrinking in Europe, but growing in the US and China. That's why Volkswagen is trying to take it upmarket, but not so upmarket that it cannibalises the Audi A4.

A fine line to walk, that one, though Audi Australia has until late next year to see how close it will be positioned.

VOLVO
XC90. Like Skoda and Volkswagen, Volvo thought there was merit in showing the car well before the show and well it might. It's Volvo's biggest cash cow.

The all-new seven-seat SUV is based on Volvo's new SPA (Scalable Product Architecture) architecture and is a brave lead-off hitter for the brand's four-cylinder-only ethos, given it's still around the two-tonne mark.

There is a petrol-electric hybrid, too, with 298kW of power and CO2 emissions of just 60g/km, and it's available right from the Australian launch next May.

* Stand by for full coverage of all the reveals that matter from this year's Paris show.

Land Rover Discovery Sport
Mercedes Benz AMG GT
Mazda MX-5
Peugeot 308 GT
Fiat 500X
Citroen Divine DS
Peugeot Exalt
Hyundai i20
Infiniti Q80
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
Kia Sorento
Suzuki Vitara
Volvo XC90
Jaguar XE