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Weekly Recap: Geneva's splendor reflects growing demand for ultra-luxury cars

Geneva is one of the most glittering auto shows in the world, but the list of high-powered and bespoke luxury cars was decadent this year even by the rich standards of the Swiss exhibition. It's great for enthusiasts to revel in the flame-throwing Aston Martin Vulcan, the racing-inspired elegance of the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 concept and the insane performance of the Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce, but there's a reason for all of this opulence: the luxury market is big business. And it's growing. IHS Automotive forecasts that so-called ultra-premium sales will nearly triple this decade from 123,000 to 353,000 units around the world. The estimate includes brands like Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari and Rolls-Royce, but doesn't count BMW, Mercedes and Audi, which offer less expensive models in addition to their high-end flagships. Though IHS includes Porsche and its relatively large volume in the study, the ultra-premium segment is still set grow at about the same rate, even without the German automaker's figures. So what is propelling all of this growth in the most expensive segment of the auto industry? Put simply, there's more rich people. IHS Automotive principal analyst Tim Urquhart pointed to economic expansion in China, market recovery in the United States and a surge in the lucrative technology sector as contributing factors. This dovetails with a research report by UK-based Oxfam, an international relief organization, which found the world's richest one-percent owned 48 percent of global wealth in 2014, and it's expected to increase to more than 50 percent by 2016. View 17 Photos Carmakers are moving quickly to capitalize with new products, expanding their portfolios with low-volume speedsters like the 800-hp V12 Vulcan at Geneva, and plans to enter new segments, like Rolls-Royce's strategy to make an SUV. "Ultra-premium carmakers are looking to explore ways of growing their product offerings, and thus their bottom lines, in this most potentially profitable of segments," Urquhart wrote in a report on the Geneva show. In a nutshell, there are more choices for people with more money. It's a good time to have expensive taste. Other News & Notes 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata production launches It won't be long now. The 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata arrives later this year, and it's officially in production. Mazda announced this week that the roadster began rolling off the assembly line at its Ujina factory in Hiroshima, Japan.

2022 Ford Maverick gets a surprising amount of attention

People notice the 2022 Ford Maverick. You could chalk it up to metro Detroit being a company town, but that’s too easy. The Maverick, despite its modest size, has presence. I expected the truck to draw curiosity. Aesthetically, the MaverickÂ’s closest rival, the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz, is far more eye-catching with a flashy grille and curves and creases front to back. The MaverickÂ’s squared-off truck demeanor makes it an understated attention-getter, and it does have some design flourishes, especially up front with the blocky headlights that Tetris with the grille. ItÂ’s not just the looks. The sub-$20K MSRP offers real value and is an articulation of FordÂ’s strategy to pivot from cars to similarly sized offerings. This is better than a Ford Focus, and it makes sense why Ford took such a big risk revamping its lineup. And the hybrid version gets up to 42 mpg. Ford sold 4,140 Mavericks in October, outpacing the Santa CruzÂ’s still-healthy tally of 1,848 units. Ford says the trucks were moving off dealer lots in an average of five days, which is a brisk pace. The Maverick is also bringing in young buyers, with a quarter of its sales to people 18 to 35 years old.  While the sales figures are interesting, the Maverick starts about $4,000 less than the Santa Cruz, and Ford sells more vehicles than Hyundai in the United States, so thatÂ’s just part of the equation. Ford and Hyundai will define success for their small trucks in different ways. TheyÂ’re both attention-getters, but the Maverick surprised me with its star power. It will be interesting to see if this segment has staying power for Ford, Hyundai and perhaps others. Other news and notes The North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year Award finalists were announced this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show, and the Maverick and Santa Cruz both made the cut in the truck category, where they were joined by the Rivian R1T. The Honda Civic, Lucid Air and Volkswagen Golf GTI/R  will vie for top honors in the car segment. The Ford Bronco, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Genesis GV70 make up the SUV field. Winners will be announced in early January. The finalists were culled from a field of 23 semifinalists. Full disclosure: IÂ’m a NACTOY juror.  HereÂ’s an odd one: Famed designer Marcello Gandini is disavowing the rebirth of the Lamborghini Countach. Lambo essentially restyled the Sian with a modern interpretation of the CountachÂ’s design cues.

Richard Hammond helps terminally ill girl live pink Lamborghini dream

Emilia Palmer, an eight-year-old from Kimbolton, Herefordshire in England's West Midlands, suffers from a rare lung illness, requiring her to constantly be on oxygen. She made a request through Rays of Sunshine, which is like the Make-A-Wish Foundation, to get a ride in a pink Lamborghini, driven by everyone's favorite Hamster, Richard Hammond. And last Sunday, she got to do just that, escaping from her hospital just long enough to stop home and get a surprise visit.
Within days of receiving Emilia's wish, Rays of Sunshine found someone willing to donate a Lamborghini Aventador Roadster, and let the charity get it resprayed in an eye-searing, matte pink. The charity also managed to get Hammond to fly in for a personal visit with Emilia.
You can take a look at video of the meeting down below. You can also click over to Rays of Sunshine's website and donate, so that they can continue granting wishes for terminally ill children across the UK. Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to step away and get all this dust out of our eyes.