Mazda's 2008 Paris motor show Kiyora concept car targets environmental friendliness. A car that conserves water as well as fuel is one of the stars of this year's Paris motor show.

The Mazda Kiyora concept car, a radical interpretation of a futuristic city car, includes military-inspired water purification technology that channels rainwater from the roof to a portable drink bottle.

Inspired by water - it's even designed to look like a water droplet - the car also has an air purifier and an engine that turns off when stopped to save fuel. And the Kiyora is not just for show, with Mazda hinting the water purification technology - which already being used by the British military in Afghanistan and the US Marines. This could be fitted to a production car in future as well.

From my point of view, Mazda Kiyora gives an indication where Mazda could go with a small, eco-friendly city car in the near future.

It is highly fuel efficient, with a very small CO2 footprint, delivering Zoom-Zoom driving fun and high levels of safety. The car achieves this by taking Mazda’s acclaimed lightweight strategy to a new level by employing an extremely rigid and lightweight carbon-fibre body structure beneath a small, aerodynamic outer skin and a spirited, small-displacement 1.3-liter direct-injection engine. Mazda Kiyora also features Mazda’s unique Smart Idle Stop System (SISS) and a newly developed six- speed automatic transmission with direct feel and fuel efficiency similar to that of a manual. With these technologies, the Mazda Kiyora concept would produce CO2 emission of under 90g/km.