British Motor Show gets underway in London

18 July 2006 12:35 GMT / By Stuart Miles

After nearly 30 years, The British International Motor Show has returned to London. The 2-week show that opens to the public on Thursday promises to be the stage for a number of new launches from Vauxhall, Mazda and Jaguar as well as featuring a host of concept cars offering glimpses of the future.

One of the stars in London is likely to be Jaguar's supercharged version of its strong-selling XK coupe, as well as concept cars from Rolls Royce and Aston Martin.

Among cars that will be offered for sale will be the latest incarnation of Vauxhall's Corsa as well as Mazda's new MX-5 roadster coupe, the first to come with a retractable hard top.

The show's organisers say there will also be strong emphasis on "green" cars. This year's motor show will feature the launch of two all-new electric city cars. The zero emissions smart EV (electric vehicle) will be unveiled on press day, alongside the debut of the Mega City NICE (No Internal Combustion Engine) vehicle.

Three new cars from Ford will also be unveiled including the Ford Focus C-Max FFV and the new Ford Focus FFV.

While Saab will be showing off the world's first 210 bhp 2.3t BioPower engine in the new-look Saab 9-5.

Land Rover will also be showing its new look Freelander at the show.

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Car And GPS, British Motor Show 2006