The hits and misses: Eco cars II

Apart from the new series and concept cars, there were many green ideas on display in Paris about what mobility is soon going to mean, as indeed there had been at the IAA.
Some of these were clearly chucked together from a crib sheet, while some where serious statements. The rest ended up simply as extras on the hybrid eco stage.
The clear fakes:

The misses

1. Mercedes Benz S400 Blue Hybrid
With its Mercedes S Class Hybrid, Mercedes was not presenting anything to change the world. A heavy top-of-the-range saloon with a mild hybrid sounds like a necessary but shallow image statement. A bit like taking a banana split, covering it with cream and then using sugar-free chocolate sauce so that you can call it "low-calorie". Completely off the mark!

2. Opel Insignia EcoFlex
Economy hardly kicks in with 18 inch alloys and a 158 HP engine,
even although it's a diesel. The customer is not interested in (just relatively lower) CO2 values, but wants to know about fuel consumption.

3. Ford Bond Ka with fuel cell
You can safely take a look at the film car corner. But the Ford Ka with a fuel cell only exists in the new Bond film.