Paris Motor Show 2010 - 2

Ford pushed out the boat in a big way, not just revealing its new Focus in standard form, but also offering us a gold ST concept version. In addition, there were several versions of the new C-MAX on the stand, a car that comes to Ireland in a few weeks. We were disappointed to see that they used the old mobile phone styling on the centre stack as they have used in the Fiesta since it came out. A Fiesta RS WRC exhibit was attracting a lot of attention.

Mazda has smartened up its 2 with a grille treatment that reflects what it had done to the 3 and the 6 in recent times. Already one of our favourite superminis, the Japanese maker has also improved the car's efficiency and we'll bring you more details of these in future posts.

Fiat didn't have any new model cars, but did show new applications of its efficient MultiAir engines. And as always, they had some of the sexiest women at the show.

And their Alfa Romeo division very bravely showed a crash-tested Giulietta. It did show clearly why it has achieved one of the highest ENCAP ratings for passenger safety.