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Rectangular Steering Wheels, Floating Cars and Deluxe EVs Debut at Paris Auto Show

A view of the logo of BYD during the launch of the BYD eMAX 7, an electric MPV by Chinese car and battery maker BYD, in New Delhi, India, October 8, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the logo of BYD during the launch of the BYD eMAX 7, an electric MPV by Chinese car and battery maker BYD, in New Delhi, India, October 8, 2024. (Reuters)
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Rectangular Steering Wheels, Floating Cars and Deluxe EVs Debut at Paris Auto Show

A view of the logo of BYD during the launch of the BYD eMAX 7, an electric MPV by Chinese car and battery maker BYD, in New Delhi, India, October 8, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the logo of BYD during the launch of the BYD eMAX 7, an electric MPV by Chinese car and battery maker BYD, in New Delhi, India, October 8, 2024. (Reuters)

Chinese and European automakers are launching new models at the Paris auto show on Monday, with both heavily focusing on their electric ranges, even as demand slows and the EU gears up to impose tariffs on Chinese-made EVs later this month.

Below are some of the launches expected to generate buzz at the show, Europe's biggest. Organizers have counted around 50 European or world premieres.

CHINA'S OFFERING

Chinese EV giant BYD, which has entered many European markets this summer, is hoping to challenge Tesla's Model Y with a mid-sized electric SUV known as the Sea Lion 07.

It will also premiere for France its luxury, plug-in hybrid SUV, the Yangwang U8, which is capable of floating in the event of accidents involving water. It can also park sideways or make a complete turn on the spot thanks to four electric motors, one in each wheel.

China's state-owned GAC is launching the second generation of its compact electric crossover SUV, the Aion V, with a range of up to 750 kilometers (466 miles).

FAW's Hongqi, or Red Flag, known as former Chinese leader Chairman Mao Zedong's favored car brand and considered the nation's equivalent of a Rolls Royce, will launch its imposing luxury electric range, including the 5.2-meter long E-HS9, and EH7 and EHS7 models.

Startup Leapmotor will show the small EV T03 and new electric SUVs, the C10 and B10.

EUROPEAN MANUFACTURERS

Local manufacturer Renault is unveiling its small electric SUV, the R4, a modern version of the famous Renault 4 from the sixties, as well as a new Dacia Bigster, a larger version of the bestselling SUV Duster.

Alpine, Renault's sport brand, will unveil a show car for its forthcoming A390 fastback, its second fully electric model.

Volkswagen will premiere its seven-seater VW Tayron SUV that comes as a mild hybrid or plug-in hybrid, and available for order from 45,475 euros ($49,763).

Stellantis will launch the new compact Citroen C4 and C4X that have hybrid, electric and pure combustion-engine versions.

Peugeot, which has previously designed a mini steering wheel, is showing a rectangular wheel, or the Hypersquare, which will appear in the first car showrooms from 2026.

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Technology

PlayStation at 30: How Sony's Grey Box Conquered Gaming

The little grey box sold 102 million units. Richard A. Brooks / AFP
The little grey box sold 102 million units. Richard A. Brooks / AFP
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PlayStation at 30: How Sony's Grey Box Conquered Gaming

The little grey box sold 102 million units. Richard A. Brooks / AFP
The little grey box sold 102 million units. Richard A. Brooks / AFP

Japanese electronics giant Sony is set to celebrate 30 years since it launched the PlayStation console, the little grey box that catapulted the firm into the gaming big league.
PlayStation was Sony's first foray into the world of video games and when it hit the shelves in Japan on December 3, 1994, the company needed to sell one million units to cover its costs, AFP said.
In the end, the gadget became a legend, selling more than 102 million units, helping to launch many of the industry's best-loved franchises and positioning Sony as a heavyweight in a hugely lucrative sector.
"PlayStation changed the history of video games," said Hiroyuki Maeda, a Japanese specialist in video game history.
"It truly transformed everything: hardware, software, distribution and marketing."
One of the keys to its success was broadening the appeal of a pastime that had often been dismissed as a hobby for children.
From the off, the firm was clear that it wanted to trash this image.
In part this stems from Sony's rivalry with Nintendo, which was already a dominant player in the sector by the mid-1990s, but whose games skewed young.
Sony 'humiliated'
The original PlayStation can trace its history to a falling out between the two great Japanese firms.
They had partnered in the late 1980s to develop a version of the Super Nintendo console with an in-built CD player.
But Nintendo suspected Sony were using the project as a way to muscle into the gaming sector and abruptly cancelled the partnership in 1991.
"Sony found itself in a humiliating position," said Maeda, so pushed ahead with the project by itself.
The hardware proved to be revolutionary, CD-ROMs being cheaper and storing much more data than the cartridges used by Nintendo and other consoles.
And to further distinguish itself from Nintendo, Sony courted a young adult audience with fighting games like "Tekken", out-and-out horror with "Resident Evil" and "Silent Hill", and military titles like "Metal Gear Solid".
Its advertising also followed a more grown-up path.
Hollywood auteur David Lynch was drafted in to direct ads for the PS2 launched in 2000 -- conjuring a nightmare vision of floating heads and talking ducks certainly not meant for younger audiences.
"The older audience obviously had better purchasing power than children," said Philippe Dubois, founder of M05, a French association that aims to preserve digital heritage.
The PS2 is still the most successful console in history, having sold more than 160 million units.
'New sensations'
Over the past 30 years, the competition has intensified and the technology has been honed.
While Sega and other rivals have fallen by the wayside, Microsoft has entered the fray with its Xbox, and Nintendo is still on the scene with its Switch console.
But the industry is enduring tough times.
A surge in popularity and investment during the pandemic has subsided and Sony's PlayStation division recently laid off hundreds of workers.
Plenty of analysts are also predicting that cloud gaming will soon render consoles obsolete.
Sony appears undaunted though, recently launching an upgraded version of its PS5 with a marketing push that highlighted new AI features.
Bloomberg has reported that the Japanese firm is also planning a new hand-held version of the PlayStation, which would once again pit it against old rival Nintendo, undisputed king of portable devices.
However, for the purists, few innovations were as great as the original console's ability to handle 3D graphics.
The technology was instrumental for the appeal of classic games such as "Tomb Raider" and "Final Fantasy VII".
"We discovered sensations, emotions that we hadn't experienced with earlier consoles," said French YouTuber and PlayStation enthusiast Cyril 2.0.
He said he had collected almost every title released for the PlayStation in Europe -- some 1,400 -- and insisted the formula for success was not complicated.
"For consoles, games are still the most important thing," he said.