The Left Bank

The river Siene slices through the city of Paris like the gentle folds of a fresh croissant. To the south is a section known as "La Rive Gauche" or The Left Bank. The moniker is artistic in origin thanks to the community of superlative painters and writers who called it home at one time or another. From Picasso to Hemingway to Matisse to Fitzgerald, some of the greatest works that we still admire today trace their ancestry to the southern section of the City of Lights.

And even though those days are gone it doesn't mean that today The Left Bank is bereft of artistic merit. In fact just the opposite. Over the years it has become home to some of the greatest works of contemporary art though with a more technological feel. And for the next two weeks Autoline Detroit will spotlight this "21st Century Art" as we visit the Paris Motor Show.

In this week's first part, John McElroy talks with Stephen Odell, the CEO of Ford of Europe, Jonathan Browning, the new CEO of Volkswagen of America, Ian Callum, Jaguar's Director of Design, and Fiat's Giovanni Mastrangelo, Platform Manager for Small Gasoline Engines.