BMW 5 Series Touring Unveiled at Paris Auto Salon

It's not for lack of experience that luxury automakers like BMW surmise that American buyers like sedans, while European buyers gravitate towards wagons. The conclusion is backed by decades of sales numbers, and that's why the BMW 5 Series Touring wagon you see here, unveiled for the first time at the Paris Auto Salon, won't be coming to the Western shores of the Atlantic.

Although the Touring model retains nearly all the handling dynamics of the sedan while packing additional cargo capacity, American buyers fill that niche with crossovers. Which is a bit of a shame, but if you're looking for a more versatile version of the latest 5, BMW can arrange a nice Gran Turismo model – taller and bulkier though it may be – to suit your requirements.

Audi Debuts the New R8 GT at the Paris Auto Salon

As far as mainstream production automakers go, few have managed to impress the way Audi has with the R8. Then the German carmaker kicked things up a notch with the V10-powered R8 5.2 FSI. But for those looking for something even closer to the razor's edge, Audi has now unveiled the new R8 GT at the semi-annual Paris Auto Salon.

The GT model packs the same 5.2-liter V10 as the existing model, but boosts its power up from 525 hp to a full 560. To further unburden the powerplant, Audi has also trimmed 229 lbs off the curb weight, thanks mainly to lighter windows. Only 333 examples will be produced, each carrying a €193,000 ($256k) price tag.

Exagon Motors Unveils the Furtive e-GT in Paris

While most of the new cars we see making their debuts at major auto shows – like the one currently going on at the Port de Versailles in Paris – come from recognized, established automakers, a new generation of hybrid and electric vehicles has been coming from new start-ups fresh to the game. Names like Tesla and Fisker come to mind, and now Exagon Motors joins their ranks with the Furtive e-GT.

Built by an experienced racing-car manufacturer, the Furtive e-GT is a sleek 2+2 electric sportscar powered by a pair of Siemens electric motors producing 340 horsepower. That's enough to propel the e-GT to 60 in just 3.5 seconds, or cruising up to 250 miles on a single charge.