Vauxhall to unveil GTC Paris concept car

Vauxhall will show its GTC Paris concept car at the Paris Motor Show in October - a hint to what next year's three-door Astra Sporthatch will look like. There are no official photographs yet but the newcomer is expected to be a sharply styled coupe version of the standard Vauxhall Astra, that will rival the likes of the Renault Megane Coupe.

The brand will also be officially unveiling the British-built Astra Sports Tourer, (main picture left) which is due to go on sale in October 2010. The second model in the Astra range promises sleek looks along with generous passenger room and useful practicality. This included a new FlexFold feature which allows each section of the 60/40 split-fold rear seatbacks to be lowered at the press of a button housed in the boot wall. With the seats folded flat, it offers an impressive 1550 litres of luggage room.

Elsewhere on the Vauxhall stand, there will be the expaned Meriva range, with new diesel models, bringing the total number of engines in the range to seven in total - three petrol and four diesel units.

The first new addition is a 95bhp 1.3 CDTi engine, which will power all Meriva ecoFLEX models. It's combined with a gearbox with taller ratios to help it cut CO2 emissions to 119g/km while average fuel economy is 62.8mpg. The 1.3 CDTi ecoFLEX joins the 1.3 CDTi (75bhp), which was available from launch.

The new 1.7 CDTi with 130bhp is the choice for those wanting more in the way of performance. It delivers up to 300Nm of torque from 2000-2500rpm, which gives it a 0-62mph time of 9.9 seconds along with average fuel consumption of 54.3mpg. All 1.7 CDTi (130bhp) Merivas have six speed manual gearboxes as standard and alongside the existing 1.7 CDTi (100bhp), which is available as standard with a six-speed automatic transmission.

The new Corsa ecoFLEX will also be on show. Featuring Start/Stop technology the new Euro 5-compliant 1.3 CDTi (75bhp) model can achieve 70.6mpg - a near 5mpg, or more than 7 per cent improvement - on the combined cycle.

Compared with the outgoing Euro 4, 1.3 CDTi (75bhp) engine, the addition of Start/Stop technology and Euro 5 emissions compliance has brought a 9g/km reduction in CO2 emissions, down to 105g/km, as well as a 20Nm increase in torque to 190Nm. All Start/Stop cars are also fitted with a DPF Diesel Particulate Filter.

We'll be bringing you all the breaking news from the Paris Motor Show which runs from October 1 to 17 including every key new model and concept car.

Click here to read our 2010 Paris Motor Show A-Z guide.