Car & Driver; 2008 Paris Auto Show: Most Significant Debuts - Feature

From fuel-efficiency for the masses to fabulous exotics for the few, the highlights from this year’s Paris show.

BY JARED GALL AND STEVE SILER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE DUSHANE, MATTHIAS KNOEDLER, AND THE MANUFACTURERS October 2008

As the Michigan skies shed their summer blues and don the dreary gray they’ll wear for the next seven months, there’s one ray of light that pierces our seasonal depression: the beginning of auto-show season. It means a lot of extra work for us, but it’s not like we have anything to do other than hibernate and shovel the driveway.

The auto market is changing fast, and amid the glamour and promised speed of the headline-grabbing debuts are a number of new models that mean more to us, more to the market, and more to their parent companies. It might be because of an important new technology, a new styling direction, or evidence of change aboard the mothership, but following are the 10 most significant debuts of the first show of this auto-show season, the 2008 Paris show.

Audi S4
BMW Concept X1
Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon
Chevrolet Cruze
Chevrolet Volt
Ferrari California
Honda Insight
The Honda Insight badge returns next April not on another two-seat, four-wheeled shoe, but as a relatively handsome, five-seat Prius clone. The 2010 Insight will feature its own version of Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist powertrain, giving it fuel economy similar to that of Honda’s own Civic Hybrid. The biggest difference, then, will be lighter weight, fewer frills, and with an estimated price of under $20K, lower cost.
Lamborghini Estoque
Mercedes-Benz ConceptFASCINATION
Volkswagen Rabbit/Golf/GTI

Follow the link for the full article;
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/2008_paris_auto_show_most_significant_debuts_feature