The Paris Motor Show opens amid an EV trade war between the EU and China

PARIS (AP) — Automakers vying to persuade drivers to go electric are rolling out cheaper, more tech-rich models at the Paris motor show, targeting everyone from luxury clients to students who haven't gotten their driver's licenses.

The biennial show has long been a major art exhibition, dating back to 1898.

Chinese manufacturers are bracing for a trade war with Beijing despite threats from the European Union to punitively tax imports of their electric vehicles. Long-established European manufacturers are grappling with new efforts to win over customers put off by high-priced EVs.

Here's a look at the show's opening day on Monday.

More new models from China

Chinese EV startups have shown off Leapmotor and Xpeng models they say incorporate artificial intelligence technology.

Leapmotor, founded in 2015, has unveiled the B10, a compact electric powered SUV. It will be built in Poland for European buyers, said Lipmotor's head of product planning, Zhong Tianyu. Leapmotor hasn't announced a price for the B10, which will launch next year.

Leapmotor also said it will display a small electric commuter car, the T03, in Paris, retailing from a competitive 18,900 euros ($20,620). Those sold in France will be imported from China but assembled in Poland, Zhong said.

Leapmotor has announced a starting price of 36,400 euros ($39,700) in Europe for its larger family car, the C10.

Sales outside China are through a joint venture with the world's fourth-largest carmaker, Stellantis. European sales began in September, Leapmotor said.

XPeng braces for duty injuries

Attending the Paris show for the first time, decade-old Chinese EV maker XPeng unveiled a sleek sedan, the P7+.

CEO He Xiaopeng said Xpeng aims to deliver to Europe from next year. European pricing targets for the P7+ weren't given, but the CEO said they'll start at 209,800 yuan in China, which is the equivalent of 27,100 euros or $29,600.

XPeng president Brian Gu said the EU's threatened import tariffs could complicate the company's expansion plans if Brussels and Beijing do not find an amicable solution to their trade dispute before an October deadline.

Brussels says the subsidies help Chinese companies unfairly undercut EU industry prices, with Chinese-made electric cars rising from 3.9% of the EV market in 2020 to 25% by September 2023.

“Tariffs will put a lot of pressure on our business model. This is a direct hit to our margins, which are already not very high,” said Gu.

Vehicles for young teenagers

In Europe, makers of small electric cars that can be driven without a license are finding a growing market among 14-year-olds and their parents who prefer zipping on four wheels to motorbikes for safety reasons.

Several manufacturers of two-seaters are exhibiting in Paris, including France's Citroen. Its Ami, or “friend,” has a starting price of just under 8,000 euros ($8,720). Launched in France in 2020, the plastic-shelled car is now sold in other European markets and also in Türkiye, Morocco and South America.

“It's not a car. It's a moving object,” said Citroen's head of product, Alain Le Goguec.

European law allows teenagers to drive Amy and similar buggies without a full license after an eight-hour training course from the age of 14. They are limited to a maximum speed of 45 kilometers per hour (28 mph).

The vehicles are also finding a market among adults who have lost their licenses for driving violations or who have never obtained a full license, and in outlying cities with poor transportation.

Renault subsidiary Mobilize says its two-seater, no-licence, plastic-shelled Duo can go 100 kilometers (more than 60 miles) on a charge, even in the energy-sapping cold of winter. A phone app serves as his door and ignition key.

Another French manufacturer, Ligier, sells unlicensed two-seaters in both diesel and electric versions.