THE CURATED EDITION.
Reportage / Paris
On the eve of the Paris motor show, Stellantis gathered six concepts at Hangar Y in Meudon. The electric Citroën 2CV led the evening, and with it a case for the small, honest European car.
STELLANTIS | THE NIGHT BEFORE | PARIS 2026
The most persuasive car Stellantis showed in Paris this October was also the smallest and the least expensive. On the evening before the Mondial de l’Auto opened, the group brought six concepts to Hangar Y in Meudon, a restored airship hangar on the edge of the city, and let one of them carry the message. The electric Citroën 2CV is a reminder that a car can be modest without being an apology.
The Night Before was staged as a presentation of six ideas: the Citroën 2CV, the Fiat Multiplay, the Alfa Romeo Cuorerosso, the DS F3VER, the Peugeot RCZ Vision and the Opel STX. Each speaks for its brand, and together they illustrate FaSTLAne 2030, the plan set out under chief executive Antonio Filosa. The next day the group opened the largest stand of the show, with more than 60 vehicles from eight brands.
Citroën’s concept is electric, 3.76 metres long and weighs roughly one tonne. The brand intends to reveal the production car within two years and to have it in the range by 2028, built in Europe at a price of about €15,000. It would sit between the Ami and the C3, in the space opened by Europe’s new E-Car rules for small, affordable vehicles. The canvas roof stays, and so does the idea that a car can be simple on purpose.
A small car built in Europe for about €15,000 is not nostalgia. It is a decision about who the industry intends to serve.
The Fiat Multiplay is 4.45 metres long and seats six plus one. Its rear module slides to turn the car into a four-seat pick-up, and a dedicated Petsenger seat is reserved for the dog. Fiat is clear that it is not a production preview, but a study of how much use can fit into a family car.
The Alfa Romeo Cuorerosso works in the opposite direction. It frames a family of models up to 4.7 metres on multi-energy platforms, with a Quadrifoglio version using a 2.9-litre V6 full hybrid and Q4 all-wheel drive. The brand calls its design philosophy Bellezza Necessaria, necessary beauty, and the concept takes the phrase literally.
The Peugeot RCZ Vision revives the name of the coupé sold from 2009 to 2015 and puts the most advanced hardware of the evening underneath it. It sits on the STLA One platform with a solid-state battery developed with Factorial Energy, a 1000-volt architecture, 368 kW and a range of up to 600 km. A 10 to 80 per cent charge takes about ten minutes. Steering is by wire through the Hypersquare yoke, and it is Peugeot’s first car with brake-by-wire.
The DS F3VER explores desirability, personalisation and versatility rather than a single future model. The Opel STX, for Sports Tourer Experimental, carries the brand’s Vizor with animated light slats and a more upright Compass emblem, and Opel says elements of it will reach production.
Under the vaulted roof of a hangar built for airships, six concepts made their case, but the one people walked back to was the smallest. A car with a cloth roof and a modest price may be the most ambitious thing Stellantis promised in Paris.
Details and further reading: Stellantis newsroom · Citroën · Mondial de l’Auto
Instagram: @stellantis · @citroen
GABRIEL SILVEIRADO, FOR WAYFARER.
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