What's all this about?

This is the Skoda Vision RS, the Czech company's star machine at the Paris Motor Show. It previews the look of the next-generation Rapid, which will sit on the 'MQB A0' platform and is aimed to move upmarket, challenging none other than its distant stablemate, the Volkswagen Golf.

Why is it called an RS?

This is a high-performance model and it's also a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). Which means that many of Skoda's forthcoming flotilla of ten electrified vehicles on sale by 2025 will likely go under the brand's performance banner, albeit not all of them will gain the 'vRS' epithet (what Skoda calls its fast road-going cars in the UK; everywhere else, they're just known as 'RS' models, hence the Paris concept's name). The Vision RS uses a 1.5-litre TSI petrol engine, rated at 150hp, which is augmented by a 75kW (102hp) electric motor, with a peak output of 245hp and the electrified parts powered by a 13kWh lithium-ion battery. Here comes Car Numberwang: that means the Vision RS can do 0-62mph in 7.1 seconds, 50-75mph in 8.9 seconds, emits just 33g/km of CO₂ and can go up to 43 miles on its electric power alone. Charging the battery on a powerful, rapid public charging station takes just two-and-a-half hours.

Any more details on it for now?

Yes, the new Rapid - if it takes its shape directly from the Vision RS, which is highly likely - will be 50mm longer than its predecessor, at 4,356mm. The boot will be 25 litres bigger too, at 440 litres, and the slow-selling Liftback model will be quietly dropped, Skoda instead focusing solely on the Spaceback... and, er, dropping that name, because the Rapid will no longer need qualifying as to which type of boot you're buying. Heat-reflecting white paint and an interior that is made of vegan and sustainable materials are the other key details of the Paris Motor Show machine. For instance, its floor mats are made out of a textile that is created by extracting fibres from pineapple leaves. Far out, man.