Business   

Automakers come up with aggressive grand designs

One standout is the Peugeot 908 top-of-the-line concept car

BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL: A general view of the Paris Auto Show, on the second press day on Friday. The show, known in France as Le Mondial de l'Automobile, opened to the public on Saturday for two weeks. — PHOTO: AP

PARIS: Even in this era of high gas prices, automakers displaying their wares at the Paris Motor Show are pushing bold, aggressive designs, even on their smallest models.

One standout was the Peugeot 908 concept car, meant to be Peugeot's top-of-the-line model. Called `a stunning Maybach beater' by the automotive web site Jalopnik.com, the 908 boasts a black lacquer exterior. But the real news is under the hood. The 908 has a 700-horsepower, 5.5-litre V-12 diesel engine, offering speed and, with diesel, a modicum of fuel efficiency.

Speed is definitely a top-of-mind issue for Alfa Romeo, whose 8C Competizione concept car is meant to be the first of a limited-edition series of high-powered models.

Alfa has not stated a price, but plans to build only 500 of the 8C, with a lightweight carbon-fibre body and has the same rear-wheel-drive underpinnings as the Maserati Coupe. It is fast, with a 4.7-litre V-8 engine that generates 450 horsepower.The show's smallest cars do not boast that kind of performance but they do try to keep up in design.

The Ford Mondeo wagon on display here has two grilles, a narrow one on top that brings to mind the Ford Fusion in the U.S., and a broad grid on the bottom, portraying a tough take-on-all-comers attitude.

Concept car

The Auris Space Concept car from Toyota is also rugged in the front, and could be what the next generation Corolla will look like when Toyota introduces it next year in the United States and elsewhere.. — AP

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

UWB to operate as IDBI from Oct. 3
LKB, Centurion Bank of Punjab merger proposal put to vote
Automakers come up with aggressive grand designs
Private equity market set to reach $7 b in 4 years
G. K. Pillai new Commerce Secretary

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu