This paper presents new analytical results for a class of nonlinear parabolic systems of partial different equations with small cross-diffusion which describe the macroscopic dynamics of a variety of large systems of interacting particles. Under suitable assumptions, we prove existence of classical solutions and we show exponential convergence in time to the stationary state. Furthermore, we consider the special case of one mobile and one immobile species, for which the system reduces to a nonlinear equation of Fokker–Planck type. In this framework, we improve the convergence result obtained for the general system and we derive sharper L∞-bounds for the solutions in two spatial dimensions. We conclude by illustrating the behaviour of solutions with numerical experiments in one and two spatial dimensions.