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Mansory turns the Lamborghini Urus into a coupe you'll either love or hate

German tuner Mansory is known globally for putting controversial-looking body kits on high-end cars like the Maserati MC20. The company's first build of 2023 goes much further: called Venatus Coupe EVO C, it's a Lamborghini Urus that has been transformed into a coupe. Lamborghini doesn't offer a two-door version of the Urus, the popular SUV is exclusively offered with four doors, so a substantial amount of time and effort went into completing the transformation. Mansory started by removing the four doors and shifting the b-pillars back by nearly eight inches. It then extended the front doors, widened the quarter panels, and, of course, fitted a full body kit that includes a redesigned front bumper with numerous vents and a splitter, side skirts, not one but two rear spoilers, plus a massive diffuser, among other add-ons.  Why bother? Well, the company notes that it has received several requests for a two-door Urus in the past couple of years. Nearly every part of the cabin has been redesigned to some extent. The first Venatus Coupe EVO C features specific trim, blue leather upholstery, leather-upholstered floor mats, and ambient lighting integrated into the headliner. The ignition button has been relocated to the headliner as well (it's on the center console in the regular-production Urus) and the front seats now tilt forward to provide easy access to the individual rear seats separated by a center console. The word "Coupe" is embroidered into the four seatbacks, lest you forget what you're in. The modifications don't end there. Pop the hood and you'll spot an evolution of the 4.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 that powers the standard Urus. It has been tuned to develop 900 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque in this application. In comparison, the stock Urus S and the Urus Performante are both rated at 657 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. The eight-cylinder spins the four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission linked to shift paddles. Mansory quotes a zero-to-62-mph time of 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 207 mph. Pricing hasn't been announced, but it's of little interest to someone in the market for a heavily-modified Lamborghini Urus. For context, the Urus carries a base price of about $230,000. Mansory notes that this is the first of eight Urus coupes it plans to build in the coming years. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

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.

Bentley, Lamborghini consider foreign production [w/poll]

Would a Bentley be a Bentley if it weren't manufactured in Great Britain? Would a Lamborghini be a Lamborghini if it were built outside of Italy? It may be hard to say either way, but we might find out sooner than later, because the latest word coming in from Europe is that the Volkswagen Group is considering expanding production for both these upscale brands outside their traditional homes.
According to the Autovisie section of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, the issue for both automakers comes down to their ambitious expansion programs. Both Bentley and Lamborghini plan to launch new SUVs - the former's being well under way, the latter's still awaiting approval - that would expand their annual production considerably: by 50 percent in Bentley's case, and by as much as 100 percent in Lamborghini's.
For now, both marques intend to handle the added production with additional assembly lines at their current facilities in Crewe and Sant'Agata Bolognese, respectively. But both could soon outgrow their relatively small plants - and with the Volkswagen Group operating countless factories across Europe and around the world, it wouldn't be hard to see these manufacturers shifting excess production outside of their home countries.