Or is it just a quick paint job?

The Paris Motor Show opens today. With the French holding presidency in the EU, where decisions about CO2 emissions will take place a day or two after the finish, could this be a chance for carmakers to show off their green credentials?

The signs are that they will jump at it.

Citroen has just announced that it's going to be making more cuts in CO2 emissions across its range. That sounds promising, but let's wait until we see some figures.

Fiat is unveiling its Pur 02 - presumably a car that runs on nothing but thin air, which is almost as good as the new Dutch plastic van Quicc DiVa which boasts zero CO2 emissions.

Quicc's claims don't take into account the emissions on the electricity used to run it. The website also claims that the car is "completely silent". Really? Even a bicycle makes some sort of noise except when it's completely stationary.

BMW will be touting its Mini crossover, and the X1 - apparently a tiny SUV. They make it sound quite cute, though we'll wait and see how tiny those emissions are.

And luxury brand Ferrari is launching a new car the California. I couldn't find any figures on that, but you can get an idea just by looking at it.

I wonder if anyone has told them about the EU regulations.