Paris Motor Show
The Paris Motor Show started on Thursday and is open for the next two weeks to the public. The first two days are for media only. According to an article on MSNBC.com, the Paris Motor Show opened with both “vroom and gloom under the cloud of global financial turmoil.” The goal of this year’s show was to introduce many more fuel-efficient cars to cater to the consumers both financially strapped and environmentally conscious. Honda unveiled their new five-door gasoline-electric hatchback to rival the Toyota Prius. The Honda Insight will be cheaper than any other hybrid that is on the market. Honda plans to start selling these vehicles in April.
The shaky economic outlook was the top discussion at the show so far. Many automakers are very concerned that this may not be the end of the slumping sales, and that it could be two years before the sales start to get better. September posted the worst sales (down 5.4%) in the U.S. since the mid-90s.
The interesting part of this Paris Motor Show was that many automakers were still willing to make bold predictions about their sales even during these tough times. Most of the automakers showed how their vehicles were emitting less carbon dioxide and that many were now nonpolluting electric.
It will be interesting to hear the public’s opinion of the Paris Motor Show after the next two weeks. Hopefully they get excited about the new cars.