Not surprisingly the new car has grown a little but that has allowed a move away from cheap and cheery styling to a more sophisticated design with impressive interior space and high equipment levels.

Designed, developed and built in Europe, the car also gets a revised engine line-up featuring a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder, turbocharged direct-injection petrol engine  expected to make its debut next year.

The latest member of Hyundai’s ‘‘Kappa’’ engine family, the 1.0-litre T-GDI, which was developed in the Russelsheim Technical Centre in Germany, is the first of a new generation of small turbocharged petrol engines and produces ‘‘up to’’ 88kilowatts and 172Newton metres of torque. 

Hyundai’s Allan Rushforth said the new engine underlines Hyundai’s commitment to sustainable motoring in Europe and offers an insight into  drivetrain innovations yet to come.

The company also showed a 1.4-litre turbocharged, direct-injection engine; a 48-volt hybrid version of the i40; and a compressed natural gas-fuelled i30.

NO doubt spurred on by the plethora of hot hatches coming from  European manufacturers, Nissan unveiled one of its own in Paris – a Pulsar hatch called Dig T190. That’s code for ‘‘direct-injection gasoline turbo, 190 brake horsepower’’ (about 145kilowatts) and nothing to be sneezed at.

But it was an apparently hotter version of that car that got most  attention in Paris.

The car is called Pulsar Nismo Concept and, as its name suggests, has an engine and chassis worked upon by the company’s motor sport department which means a double wing, a dramatic front bumper with big air intakes and brake cooling vents.

There are deep side skirts, the ride height has been dropped and 19-inch alloy wheels with 235/35R19 tyres eased inside the wheel arches push the look, along with a diffuser and central twin exhaust pipes at the back.

Inside, the Nismo Concept gets a red-faced tachometer, sports seats and alloy pedals.

There is also a revised suspension system with lower ride height and harder spring and damper settings. The engine? No news there but if the car does happen expect a starting bid of around 175kilowatts.

HOLDEN used the Paris show to confirm that more than one-third of its future models will be sourced from Europe’s Opel-Vauxhall division, a cousin in the General Motors family.

GM Europe president Karl-Thomas Neumann made the announcement on the show’s opening day, with Holden chairman Gerry Dorizas confirming three Euro models will be badged as Holdens and added to the fleet next year.

Holden chairman and managing director Mr Dorizas confirmed the decision, stating the three European-sourced vehicles to be launched in Australia in 2015 would be just the start.

Those cars are the Cascada convertible, the Astra GTC and VXR three-door hatches and Insignia VXR performance sedan.