The Paris auto show in October will feature VW, Audi, and Skoda, in addition to BMW and Mini. Renault Group and Stellantis’ French brands will also be in attendance.
German automakers will return in force to the Paris auto show, with Volkswagen Group brands VW, Audi, and Skoda announcing their participation in the event, which will be held Oct. 14-20.
BMW Group will also be there, with the BMW and Mini brands.
Other brands committed to the show include Renault Group’s three brands, Renault, Dacia, and Alpine; and Stellantis’ three French marques, Citroen, DS, and Peugeot.
Among Asian automakers, the South Korean brand Kia will be there; so far, the lone Chinese brand that has committed to the show is Seres.
The show suffered a blow when it was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 event was mainly a French affair, with a few Asian brands taking part, including BYD.
The Paris show is held every two years, alternating with Germany’s main auto show, the IAA organized by the VDA.
VW Tayron to make public debut
The VW Group brands did not attend the 2022 Paris event. VW and its light commercial vehicle division will both attend the show, said the organizers.
VW vehicles on show will include the Tayron seven-seat SUV and the ID GTI concept, VW France said. For the Tayron, which is expected to be based on the VW China model of the same name, it will be its first public showing.
VW brand’s French division will take part in the show. VW’s headquarters in Wolfsburg will not be participating in the event, a VW spokesperson told Automotive News Europe’s sister publication Automobilwoche.
Audi will bring the Q6 E-tron and future A6 E-Tron and possibly the E-Tron GT facelift, said the show organizers.
Skoda will also be there, while other brands of the VW Group, such as Seat, Cupra, and Lamborghini, will not participate.
China worries
The presence of VW, BMW, and Kia at the Paris show after skipping the 2022 event points to concerns from European automakers about increasing competition from Chinese brands.
BMW and its German rivals Mercedes-Benz and VW Group skipped the Geneva show in February, as did Stellantis. That left Renault and Dacia as the only major European automakers exhibiting, while across the hall BYD and MG had stands with several new or future models destined for Europe.
Brands that told Automotive News Europe that they would not participate in the Paris show include Mercedes, the VW Group brands Cupra and Seat, Ford, Hyundai, Jeep, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Suzuki, and Geely brands Volvo, Polestar, and Zeekr.
Some automakers remain undecided or have not responded to questions about their participation, including Toyota and Stellantis’ non-French brands such as Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Lancia.
Notable by their absence so far are the main Chinese brands aiming to make a dent in the European market: MG, BYD, Chery, and Great Wall, including associated subbrands.
The difficult environment for Chinese brands
Chinese brands are facing a double challenge in France: In addition to newly imposed tariffs from the European Union, the French government has changed eligibility requirements for its own EV incentives (now based on total carbon footprint) to exclude nearly all EVs built in Asia, including China, Japan, and South Korea. That adds €4,000 to the final price.
At the 2022 Paris show, BYD had a large stand with a range of models, as it did at the 2023 Munich show and the 2024 Geneva show. MG, the best-selling Chinese brand in Europe, was also present at those three events.
Other key Chinese brands that have not committed to Paris include Leapmotor, which has a new partnership with Stellantis; Xpeng, which has announced its own tie-up with VW; Aiways; and Nio.
Key debuts for Paris have not been announced yet, but models from French brands expected to have their first public unveiling – even if revealed earlier — include the Alpine A290 electric hot hatch, the Renault 4Ever small electric SUV, and the Symbioz compact SUV, the Dacia Bigster compact SUV, and the Citroen C3 Aircross small SUV.
BMW could show a production version of the Vision Neue Klasse X SUV. The show will be an opportunity for BMW to present “its strong, future-oriented product offering, which is helping to redefine the contours of today’s and tomorrow’s automobile,” the company said in announcing that it would be in Paris.
Traditional auto shows have lost influence in recent years, as brands try to control their narratives and press coverage on social media or through dedicated events.
A Mercedes spokesman said the brand was “continuously evaluating our individual communication platforms” including “our presence at international auto shows.”
“It is important to us to have an intelligent portfolio of traditional and new platforms,” the spokesman said, and “therefore, Mercedes will not participate in the 2024 Paris auto show.”
However, with a tightening auto market and increased pricing pressure, automakers may be expanding their marketing scope. Earlier this year, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said he would review marketing efforts, specifically pointing to the Jeep brand, which has lost share in the U.S. and Europe.
