In place of the ‘usual’ French manufacturers, and with not a single stand for any of the German, Italian, British, Japanese or South Korean cars makers, the space they vacated was occupied by a bewildering variety of Chinese and South Asian vehicle makers. Most of which were making their French/European motor show debuts, as a very strong signal of intent that the Chinese mean business here in Europe, with a new car invasion set to take place imminently, based on the evidence of Paris.
The majority of the unfamiliar Chinese (and Vietnamese) car makers present in Paris were showcasing their latest, very cosmopolitan and acceptable-to-European tastes, hybrids and all-electric vehicles, with the majority of models being either on-trend SUVs and crossovers. Unknown Chinese car brands such as WEY, Seres, BYD, Leapmotors, ORA, plus Vinfast from Vietnam, had sizeable and impressive display stands filled with curious French car buyers trying a WEY Coffee 01, BYD Tang or Seres 3 out for size. All of these are set to become genuine rivals for their well-known European rivals: the Citroën C5 Aircross, Audi Q5, Ford Kuga, BMW X3, Toyota RAV4, Volvo XC40 and so on.