From the revival of the Citroën 2CV to bold pushes by Geely, BYD and Omoda, this year’s Paris Motor Show revealed how nostalgia, electrification and Chinese ambition are reshaping the global car market.
Ooh la la and welcome to Paris. We are in the beautiful French capital for the 2026 Mondial de l’Auto, otherwise known as the French Motor Show.
It’s the 91st edition of the oldest motor show in the world dating back to 1898, and this year there were in excess of 100 exhibitors spread across the five halls, all keen to give us a sneak preview of what we can expect to see on our roads in the not-too distant future.
There were sensible models, slightly more outrageous offerings and, as always at these events, futuristic concept vehicles that leave you thinking: “if only”.
Of course, the Chinese brands, including Geely, Zeekr, Omoda, Jaecoo, Chery and BYD were out in force and so were the French. After all, it’s their home game.
So, here’s our round-up of what we were drawn to from this magical mix of modern, nostalgic and the future.
What grabbed our attention at the Paris Motor Show?
Chinese carmaker Geely Auto certainly scooped the honours for the most talked about name, with the official unveiling of the Monjaro. Yes, you heard that right, incredibly close to the name of a famous weight-loss jab, so expect lots of puns from wordsmiths and headline writers with that one. But the car itself is a rather handsome family SUV and it will be the company’s flagship model moving forward.
The five-door SUV will be sold in front- or all-wheel drive and is powered by a 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid powertrain. The car is generously equipped as standard and boasts a minimalist, but there’s a wealth of tech to explore. And it comes with an excellent eight-year, 125,000-mile warranty package.
The Geely Monjaro is likely to land here in the UK in 2027, with prices still to be announced, although expect it to be very competitive.
And, getting back to the elephant in the room – or should that be a gazelle, Monjaro is actually named after Mount Kilimanjaro.
Geely had another surprise in store with the global unveiling of Project KO11, a high-performance all-terrain SUV that combines imposing proportions and rugged off-road capability with advanced plug-in-hybrid technology. We’ll leave it up to you to draw conclusions about any similarities to a firm favourite that is often seen strutting its stuff on London streets.
Sister company Zeekr was out in force too with the luxurious 9X and 7X models taking centre stage – the latter of which will be coming to the UK and could be arriving as early as next year. Zeekr is already scooping up European sales in Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Staying on the subject of names, Fiat has come up with the Grizzly, a mid-sized crossover vehicle that will be offered in Fastback and SUV guise and takes its inspiration from the Grande Panda. The Grizzly is likely to be sold with a hybrid or fully electrified powertrain and looks to have plenty of bite.
We previously had a sneak preview of the stunning Omoda 4 at the Beijing Motor Show back in April, but Paris gave us the opportunity to explore this compact hybrid SUV in a little more detail. Unlike is siblings, the Omoda 4 has a sharper, more angled appearance and it will be sold with the same 1.5-litre petrol hybrid engine that also features in the Omoda 5 and Jaecoo 7. And if you need further proof of the company’s merits, the Jaecoo 7 is looking like it might be the best-selling car in the UK this year.
Staying with the Chinese brands, Denza (the performance sub-brand of BYD) drew in the crowds with its Z9 GT shooting brake, which is lining up some very big hitters such as Porsche and BMW. There was also the BAO 5 which is another looky-likey Land Rover. However, like the established premium brands, these Denza models are expected to carry hefty price-tags, so expect to pay about £100k for the Z9 GT.
And BYD had a raft of models on show, including the Shark pick-up truck and BYD Dolphin G (apparently the G stands for Genius, but we’ll be the judge of that!)
BYD is the world’s leading manufacturer of new-energy vehicles and Paris was the ideal venue to present its new flagship SUV at the prestigious Paris Auto Show. It’s called the ATTO 8, has seven seats and sets new standards for packaging and interior quality and technology, as well as introducing FLASH Charging technology to the BYD range for 10-97 per cent refills in only nine minutes.
Hyundai took the opportunity to showcase new Bayon and its new-look Tucson, boasting a whole new appearance. The signature lights have been replaced by a more stylish light bar connecting two vertical lights. The family SUV has been given a thoroughly modern look to keep it in the spotlight.
What about best of the rest?
Smart introduced the all-new smart #2 as the contemporary reinvention of its iconic two-seater. Thirty years after the original smart two-seater concept was unveiled in Paris, the fully electric smart #2 reaffirms the idea of a modern design with its two-tone body colour and iconic Split Tailgate. These exemplary vehicle features made the original smart fortwo instantly recognisable and have now been carried forward into the smart #2 in their most up-to-date versions.
Also, idea for a city existence is the compact Leapmotor B03 which will be arriving in the UK in the New Year.
What gorgeous sets of wheels stopped us dead in our tracks?
That award must go to Italian marque, Alfa Romeo, with the global debut of the gorgeous Cuorerosso concept car, embodying the brand’s vision of the future and a new expression of its identity. But hot on its heels were the Peugeot RCZ Vision which is a nod back to the stunning RCZ coupe, and Fiat offered the Multipla, reviving that bug-eyed model from more than 20 years back. And not to be outdone, the Alpine Vision A310 takes inspiration from the original A310 sports model – just wow!
No motorshow would be complete without its fair share of the outrageous. From bizarre conversions and race cars to models of all shapes and sizes, there was plenty to raise eyebrows in disbelief, but our prize goes to the gentleman casually strolling around with a cheerful robotic dog in tow!
What was our absolute show-stopper?
It simply wouldn’t be a Paris Motor Show without one of the French giants unveiling something special and hats off to Citroen for stealing that accolade this year.
With a nod back to the original people’s car, but reimagined for the modern era, Citroen presented the new 2CV, also fondly known as the deux chevaux (two horse).
It may have a fully electrified powertrain this time round, but the styling is truly reminiscent of the little car that was built from 1948 to 1990. It boasts the signature protruding headlamps, sculpted bonnet, curved wings and retro design cues at every turn.
The original model was unveiled at the Paris Show back in 1948 and now we have the new 2CV to look forward to. Rumour has it the funky car will go on sale in 2028 and the pricing should be close to £13k.
In conclusion, it’s been another fabulous Paris Motor Show. The step count, as always, was ridiculously high, and while the relentless clicking of camera shutters has largely given way to the crowds peering over – and often posing in front of mobile phones, the appeal of the show remains as strong as ever.
As the Paris event is biennial, there will be no event next year, but we will be back to explore the highlights again in 2028.
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