Ford Motor Company Global Auto Shows

Ford of Europe’s Individual program gives car buyers a suite of custom options for certain vehicles. Launched with the 2007 S-MAX, the program is now expanded to include the Mondeo and the Fiesta. Ford revealed both at the 2008 Paris Motor Show.

The Ford Mondeo 2008 already has an Exterior Styling Pack, so the Ford Individual treatment focuses on the car’s well-crafted interior. Four custom color themes are available for the car’s Ghia and Mondeo Titanium models, accompanied by exclusive custom car interior styling options, high-grade materials, and a careful focus on details.

The seats, for example: They’re encased in high-quality nappa and grained leather, with either cross-stitching or a “hand-stitched” effect. All come embossed with the Ford “Individual” signature.

Among other features, the car has memory functions for seats and mirrors (one button restores them to a favorite setting), sports-style pedals, and deep pile floor mats.

Paris Motor Show visitors are treated to a preview of the Ford Mondeo Titanium in classic Sea Grey metallic paint, with Ford Individual’s Light Beige interior and Ebony piping.

Fiesta buyers, meanwhile, can choose between Red Style, for the Ford Fiesta Titanium, or Blue Style, for the Fiesta Sport. Inside, the cars feature Windsor-quality leather sport seats and leather door panels, with silver stitching and a leather gearshift. Door panels are also padded in leather and the seats — embossed with the “Individual” signature — provide additional comfort with flared side bolsters. This treatment is polished off with a two-tone steering wheel, a Sterling Silver instrument panel center stack, and velour floor mats.

n the stand at the 2008 Paris Motor Show: a Titanium three-door new Ford Fiesta, finished in metallic Panther Black and featuring the Red Style treatment.

Individual themes will be available to European buyers — for both models — by the end of 2008. The Ford Mondeo will have even more car interior options available in spring 2009.

Volvo unveiled its new DRIVe lineup at the Paris Motor Show, a big stride in the march toward sustainability. These three diesel-powered cars come in well under the European Union’s emissions target of 120 grams per kilometer and allow drivers to get more than 60 miles out of every gallon of gas.

With a Volvo S40 saloon, a C30 SportsCoupe, and a V50 Sportswagon, European car buyers will have access to vehicles that complement lifestyle as much as conscience. An extra perk: The cars qualify for financial incentives in 13 European markets.

Achieving a minimal environmental impact required exhaustive rethinking of the cars’ construction. Volvo engineers took a holistic approach, making adjustments wherever even the smallest benefit could be found. These range from a reduction in chassis height to aerodynamically optimized “Libra” rims to altered ratios for the cars’ gears. The tweaks add up to lower air resistance, lower rolling resistance, and a more efficient driveline.

“We are doing this to give everyone the opportunity to choose a pro-environmental alternative from Volvo,” says Volvo Cars President and CEO Fredrik Arp. “For us it is not simply a question of short-term sales — it also clearly shows how strongly Volvo prioritizes environmental properties throughout the product range.”

Production on the new vehicles begins in November. They’ll be available to UK customers beginning in January, and to other European markets later in the year.

“Kiyora” means “clean and pure” in Japanese. For the rest of the world, it’s about to define the next generation of city driving. At the Paris Motor Show, Mazda has unveiled its exciting new concept car. Premiering alongside the redesigned MX-5 and the MZR-CD 2.2 turbodiesel engine, the Mazda Kiyora promises to bring even more style, verve, and fuel economy to the brand’s lineup.

Following on Mazda’s nagare design language (“nagare” is Japanese for “flow”), the Kiyora’s designers imagined water running through city streets. So the three-door hatchback has a distinctly fluid body — sleek and aerodynamic, with a lightweight yet durable platform that adds to the car’s overall fuel efficiency.

Even more significant is the Kiyora’s driving technology. Holding to their long-term “Sustainable Zoom Zoom” program, Mazda will outfit the car with a 1.3-liter DISI engine, the carmaker’s next-generation 4-cylinder direct-injection technology. It will also feature a one-of-a-kind start-stop Smart Idle Stop System.

We can expect more refinements in the months ahead to this exciting vision of the future of the compact: an elegant balance of safety, driving pleasure, and environmental responsibility.

The Paris Motor Show offered the perfect platform for the launch of the all-new, redesigned Ford Ka. This compact city car — always a joy to drive — has been one of Ford Motor Company’s biggest European successes. Now it’s updated with Ford of Europe’s hallmark “kinetic design,” improved with even more responsive driving dynamics, and outfitted with fuel-efficient, carbon-friendly engine technology.

The new compact car still looks unmistakably like a Ka. But striking, dramatic angles and contours align it with Ford’s latest European offerings. The result is a unique take on the compact: a design that immediately communicates a fun, youthful spirit.

And that spirit will be obvious to anyone who gets behind the wheel. Ford engineers have tuned the suspension, steering, and chassis to deliver the most exciting drive of any small car. They’ve tested it on public roads, proving grounds, and race tracks — including Germany’s famed Nürburgring.

Two different types of engines power this drive: a 1.2-liter PS Duratec petrol engine, and, for the first time ever in a Ka, a 1.3-liter 75 PS Duratorq TDCi turbodiesel. Both increase the car’s fuel efficiency and decrease its carbon emissions, making it cheaper to run and even gentler on the environment. The new Ka will be available in Europe sometime later this year or early in 2009, though you can get an early glimpse of it in this fall’s James Bond release, Quantum of Solace.