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The mood at this year’s Paris Motor Show: Quiet

The Paris Motor Show, held every other year in the early fall, typically kicks off the annual cavalcade of automotive conclaves, one that traverses the globe between autumn and spring, introducing projective, conceptual and production-ready vehicle models to the international automotive press, automotive aficionados and a public hungry for news of our increasingly futuristic mobility enterprise. But this year, at the press preview days for the show, the grounds of the Porte de Versailles convention center felt a bit more sparsely populated than usual. This was not simply a subjective sensation, or one influenced by the center's atypically dispersed assemblage of seven discrete buildings, which tends to spread out the cars and the crowds. There were not only fewer new vehicles being premiered in Paris this year, there were fewer manufacturers there to display them. Major mainstream European OEM stalwarts such as Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Nissan and Volkswagen chose to sit out Paris this year, as did boutique manufacturers like Bentley, Aston Martin and Lamborghini. This is not simply based in some antipathy on the part of the German, British and Italian manufacturers toward the French market — though for a variety of historical and societal reasons that market may be more dominated by vehicles produced domestically than others. Rather, it is part of a larger trend in the industry. Last year, Mercedes-Benz announced that it would not be participating in the flagship North American International Auto Show in 2019 — and that it might not return. Other brands including Jaguar/Land Rover, Audi, Porsche, Mazda and nearly every exotic carmaker have also departed the Detroit show. Some of these brands will still appear in the city in which the show is taking place, and host an event offsite, to capitalize on the presence of a large number of reporters in attendance. And even brands that do have a presence at the show have shifted their vehicle introductions to the days before the official press opening in an attempt to stand out from the crowd. In many ways, this makes sense. With an expanding number of automakers, with diversification and niche-ification of models and with wholesale shifts that necessitate the introduction of EV or autonomous sub-brands, there is a growing sense that, with everyone shouting at the same time, no one can be heard.

Lamborghini Huracan Performante is getting a drop-top version

If you just released a specialized, lightweight track weapon with fancy active aerodynamics, what would you do next? If you said chop the car's top off, you must work for Lamborghini, because that's just what the company is doing to its Huracan Performante. Our spy photographer has caught roadster versions of the ultimate Huracan out during testing. The car looks pretty much as you would expect. The lower body work from the front bumper back is all effectively carry-over from the coupe. The rear wing looks to have the same shape and functionality, too. Where things really change is with the engine cover. Like the normal Huracan roadster, the Performante loses the glass engine cover in favor of an opaque cover and a hard tonneau for the top. The engine cover features larger vents at the base of the wing's pedestals, and they appear to have large scoops at the other end. In addition to the new engine cover, this Performante roadster has different wheels which seem to be taken from the standard model. However, these will likely be swapped for the coupe's mesh-style wheels. A close examination shows that the wheels are shod in Pirelli P Zero Corsas that are probably the same compound as the standard tires for the Performante coupe. While this won't be the first time Lamborghini has built a roadster out of its high-performance entry-level sports car, the decision to turn the new Performante into one seems a little strange considering the effort to lighten it and endow it with magical aero. Even more so when the result is a car that Lamborghini claims laps the Nurburgring faster than the bonkers Porsche 918 Spyder. It feels like a step backwards to add a retractable top that probably weighs more and messes with the aerodynamics. But then, Lamborghinis are known mostly for being flashy and fast, and this Performante convertible will fill both criteria with ease. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Lamborghini's next limited-edition experimental supercar coming soon

Lamborghini plans to release a very limited-edition supercar, which is at the time of writing still unnamed. As the company's R&D director Maurizio Reggiani said to CarAdvice in an interview, "Soon we will present to our most important customers a new version of what we call a one-off." By "one-off," Reggiani says the company means a short run of experimental cars created to showcase a new design direction and to introduce new technology, like the Lamborghini Centenario did. Call the resulting supercar a sellable concept car, if you will. In the Centenario, Lamborghini brought out rear-wheel steering. The new car would show the design direction of the Aventador's eventual replacement. What's more, Reggiani expects the upcoming car to be sold out by the time it is announced, just as the Reventon and its roadster version, the Veneno and the Sesto Elemento did. " We will announce it with our loyal customers that wait for this, we don't need to do more, we arrive at the motor show and the production is already sold out." CarAdvice deduces that the new car will be announced at the Geneva Motor Show next March, where Lamborghini will also show the new Urus – which will break cover in December. It will be a plug-in hybrid with a twin-turbo V8 engine. When Reggiani discussed the Urus with Autocar in December, he said that Lamborghini will keep turbocharging out of its supercars; the Urus needs the grunt that turbos provide, but the supercars will need the responsiveness of a naturally aspirated engine. Whether the "one-off" series car will still be naturally aspirated remains to be seen.Related Video: