2026 Paris Motor Show Retro Concept Cars, Electric Compact Cars, and New Chinese Models

The Paris Auto Show has reclaimed its prominent place on the automotive calendar—in part because it serves as a key foothold for Chinese manufacturers looking to break into the European market. French manufacturers primarily showcased concept cars. The rest of the automotive world, however, was largely absent.

“It’s almost like Shanghai,” says a fellow journalist as we tour the Paris exhibition grounds. The Paris Motor Show kicked off there on Monday—an event that had actually been all but written off, but which has regained its strength and reclaimed a certain level of importance in the annual automotive calendar.