Paris

A decade ago, Bang & Olufsen started up its automotive division. Now it has hit the trifecta, partnering with Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, the three major German automakers.

At the 2010 Paris Motor Show, we saw examples of Bang & Olufsen stereo installations in the Audi A8, the BMW Concept 6-series Coupe, and the Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid.

Bang & Olufsen is a high-end Danish manufacturer of audio components, and has shown a flair for the dramatic in its automotive installations. Speakers rise up out of dashboards while grilles are made of brushed aluminum and include ambient lighting around the edges. … Read more

Continuing its electric car research, Mercedes-Benz has begun series production of 500 E-Cell electric cars. We got a look at the car during the 2010 Paris Motor Show.

The new E-Cell uses the Mercedes-Benz A-class platform, with an electric powertrain provided by Tesla. With two lithium ion battery packs sandwiched under the floor of the car, the interior space is unaffected by the electric drive.

Under New European Drive Cycle testing, the E-Cell gets a range rating of 125 miles (200 kilometers), making it suitable for urban areas. Its electric motor produces 95 horsepower and 214 pound-feet of torque.

Units … Read more

The World Rally Car competition has made cars such as the Subaru STI and Mitsubishi Evo famous, but the race, and the competitors have changed substantially over the years. Some of the newest competitors, set for a 2011 season with revised rules, were on display at the Paris Motor Show.

Through 2010, the Ford Focus and Citroen C4 had been dominating this series of races over gravel and snow-covered roads, but the 2011 rules have made those cars ineligible, with engine displacement reduced to 1.6-liters. These changed rules are intended to make the series more affordable for teams.

As … Read more

Paris is noted as a fashion center, so we weren't surprised to find a number of very stylish concept cars at the 2010 Paris Motor Show.

As one example, French carmaker Citroen teamed up with Lacoste to design a very fun-looking car built for fun in the sun. Meanwhile Renault offered the very sexy DeZir concept in luscious red with pronounced curves.

But other regions of the world were not left out. Jaguar offers up the incredibly sleek C-X75 and Nissan came out with a funky utility car.

And BMW fans finally got treated to a taste of what … Read more

Current Lotus models the Elise, Exige, and Evora look nothing like the company's cars from a decade ago. And five years from now, Lotus' cars won't look anything like the current line-up.

Under chief designer Donato Coco, formerly of Ferrari, the Lotus is launching an ambitious plan of not only changing the styling of its cars, but reaching into new segments populated by the likes of Lamborghini and Aston Martin.

Lotus showed off five new concepts at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, all vehicles with full production intent behind them. These models include three sports cars and two … Read more

No, it's not a children's fable, the littlest Land Rover is actually a new model, the Evoque.

Faced with tightening emissions regulations, Land Rover went small, designing a new model that would get adequate power from a small engine. The result is the very modern-looking Evoque, a departure for Land Rover from its usual safari-capable tanks.

But despite the Evoque's size, it is no lightweight. Land Rover fitted it with every technology that currently makes its bigger models capable of tackling any terrain. Not only does the Evoque feature all-wheel-drive, but it has systems for descent control … Read more

Showing a DIY spirit, BMW decked out a 1-series convertible with two iPads and an iPhone 4.

BMW's ConnectedDrive effort is always looking at ways to increase the cabin tech in its cars, but at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, that resulted in merely buying tech from Apple. We ran across this 1-series, a European 118d convertible, fitted with two iPads for rear-seat entertainment and an iPhone 4 to serve as infotainment center.

The brackets for the iPads, attached to the front-seat headrest posts, looked surprisingly crude for BMW. These brackets would also prevent the front headrests from being … Read more

To achieve a weight of only 2,200 pounds for a concept based on its Gallardo platform, Lamborghini must have relied on black magic.

But although the Sesto Elemento looks devilish enough, its black magic is carbon fiber. Lamborghini previously suggested it would attempt to meet new European emissions regulations partly by reducing the weight of its cars, and this concept shows to what extremes it is willing to go.

The Gallardo weighs in at 3,307 pounds, reasonably light for a V-10 powered car with all-wheel drive. But for the Sesto Elemento Lamborghini managed to shave off more than … Read more

Automotive industry equipment supplier Aisin showed off a new navigation system to debut in Toyota models with a swipe interface.

The navigation and infotainment head unit, intended as an inexpensive option for entry level Toyota models, uses an SD card to store its maps. During a demonstration, we watched an Aisin representative put the head unit into interactive map mode, then move the map by swiping his finger across the screen. Faster swipes caused the map to move faster. Likewise, he swiped across a zoom bar to magnify the map, as opposed to the current method of tapping an onscreen … Read more