All posts by Francis Mitterrand

News

Volvo’s EV Sales Rise Despite Overall Decline

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If you’re looking for a clean narrative of triumph, Volvo Cars’ first quarter of 2026 isn’t it. But if you’re interested in where the industry is actually headed—messy, electrified, and geopolitically tangled—this one’s far more revealing.

Volvo moved 153,316 cars globally in Q1, an 11 percent drop compared to the same stretch last year. That headline number stings, especially for a brand that’s spent the last decade carefully rebuilding its premium credibility. But dig a layer deeper and the story shifts from decline to transition.

Electric cars are doing exactly what Volvo needs them to do. Fully electric sales rose 12 percent, now accounting for 23.7 percent of total volume. Add plug-in hybrids—nearly identical in share at 23.6 percent—and suddenly almost half of every Volvo sold plugs into something. At 47.3 percent electrified penetration, Volvo isn’t just keeping pace with legacy premium rivals; it’s quietly outpacing most of them.

That’s the paradox of 2026: growth where it matters, contraction where it used to count.

Europe remains Volvo’s anchor, with 95,335 cars delivered—down a modest 2 percent—but EV momentum is unmistakable. Fully electric models surged 21 percent, helping electrified vehicles claim 57 percent of the regional mix. In other words, more than every second Volvo sold in Europe now comes with a charging cable. That’s not a trend; that’s a pivot.

Meanwhile, the Americas are telling a very different story. Sales cratered 28 percent, dragged down by weak consumer sentiment and the cold reality of disappearing EV incentives. Electrified models took an even bigger hit, down 30 percent, suggesting that policy shifts can still make or break adoption curves overnight. It’s a reminder that even the most carefully planned electrification strategy is only as stable as the regulatory ground beneath it.

China, as ever, plays by its own rules. Overall sales dropped 17 percent, but electrified models skyrocketed 116 percent—driven almost entirely by plug-in hybrids, which jumped a staggering 146 percent. Fully electric cars, interestingly, went the other direction, down 26 percent. It’s a nuanced shift that hints at a market not yet ready to go all-in on EVs, despite its reputation as the global epicenter of electrification.

Volvo’s product cadence may soon help rebalance that equation. The upcoming Volvo EX60—still waiting in the wings—has already generated strong customer interest, and its arrival could plug a crucial gap in the lineup. Until then, models like the long-range Volvo XC70 are carrying the load in key markets like China, where flexibility still trumps purity.

Erik Severinson, Volvo’s Chief Commercial Officer, framed it as a moment of resilience rather than retreat, pointing to six consecutive months of growth in fully electric deliveries heading into March. He’s not wrong. The trajectory is there, even if the quarterly snapshot looks uneven.

Still, the broader industry context looms large. Pricing pressure, tariffs, and geopolitical uncertainty aren’t abstract threats—they’re showing up directly on balance sheets. Volvo’s 17 percent drop in mild hybrid and internal-combustion sales underscores a reality many automakers would rather avoid: the old profit engines are fading faster than the new ones can fully replace them.

So no, this wasn’t a blockbuster quarter. But it may be a more honest one.

Because right now, success in the auto industry doesn’t look like steady growth—it looks like controlled disruption. And by that measure, Volvo might be doing exactly what it needs to do.

Source: Volvo

NEW CARS

Lamborghini Brings the Miura SV Back to Life in Rome

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Rome doesn’t need much help being theatrical, but for a long weekend in April, it turned the drama up anyway. Between April 16 and 19, the inaugural Anantara Concorso Roma unfolded like a well-directed period film—equal parts rolling sculpture garden and high-society gathering—set against the kind of backdrop that makes even modern supercars feel like they’re late to the party.

And then Automobili Lamborghini showed up with a reminder of who wrote the script in the first place.

The Return of a Legend

Front and center was a freshly restored Lamborghini Miura SV—arguably the final, most polished expression of the car widely credited as the world’s first supercar. This wasn’t just a polish-and-parade job. Over three years, Lamborghini’s heritage division, Lamborghini Polo Storico, performed a forensic-level restoration, peeling back decades of alterations to return the car to its factory-correct form.

Unveiled at Casina Valadier, the Miura didn’t scream for attention—it didn’t have to. In a city built on permanence, authenticity carries weight, and this car had it in spades.

The backstory reads like a restoration thriller. When the car arrived in Sant’Agata Bolognese in late 2023, it wasn’t quite itself. Non-original details had crept in over the years, blurring the edges of its identity. So Polo Storico went deep—consulting original production sheets, period documentation, and historical records to reconstruct the Miura down to the smallest detail.

We’re talking about the kind of obsessive accuracy that borders on the philosophical. The front-fender grilles? Corrected. The delicate fins above the door handles? Re-profiled with proper rounded edges. Rear louvers? Rebuilt to match period regulations. Even the octagonal center-lock hubs and those wonderfully named “Bob-type” exhaust tips—after legendary test driver Bob Wallace—were reinstated.

Inside, the cabin received the same treatment. Air-conditioning provisions restored. Hazard lights reintroduced. A more compact steering wheel fitted. Even the extended handbrake lever made a comeback. It’s the kind of detail work that most people will never notice—and that’s exactly the point.

Fifty Shades of Brown (Done Right)

Then there’s the paint. Finished in “Luci del Bosco,” a deep, earthy brown paired with a “Senape” interior, the Miura looks like it was poured rather than painted. Getting that shade right wasn’t as simple as cracking open an old can of paint—color specifications evolved over time, and nailing the exact hue required yet more archival digging.

It’s a reminder that restoration at this level isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about truth.

A Family Reunion in Rome

Lamborghini didn’t come to Rome with just one star. Owners brought out their own heavy hitters, including two Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary models and another Lamborghini Miura P400—the latter with a Hollywood résumé.

Yes, that Miura. The one from the opening sequence of The Italian Job.

Long rumored to have been destroyed during filming, the car’s survival story is almost as compelling as the movie itself. It turns out the Miura wasn’t sacrificed for cinematic drama after all. Instead, it lived on, its identity eventually confirmed and restored by Polo Storico in 2019 for the film’s 50th anniversary.

At the concours, it didn’t just show up—it won. First place in its class, plus a special award celebrating its cinematic legacy. Not bad for a car once written off as a prop.

More Than Just a Pretty Face

If there’s a takeaway from Lamborghini’s Roman holiday, it’s this: heritage isn’t static. It’s maintained, argued over, researched, and—when necessary—rebuilt bolt by bolt.

As Giuliano Cassataro, Lamborghini’s Head of After Sales, put it, this kind of work is about preserving authenticity over time. That may sound like corporate-speak, but standing in front of a perfectly restored Miura SV, it feels more like a mission statement.

Because in a world increasingly obsessed with the next big thing, there’s something quietly radical about getting the past exactly right.

Source: Lamborghini

News

When Lamborghini Loses the Roof, It Finds Its Soul

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There are convertibles, and then there are Lamborghinis that simply forgot the concept of a roof altogether. The difference isn’t semantic—it’s philosophical. When Lamborghini builds an open-top V12 machine, it’s not chasing sunlight and scenery. It’s chasing sensation—the kind that pins your spine to carbon fiber while a twelve-cylinder orchestra detonates inches behind your skull.

From the tail-happy theater of the Lamborghini Diablo Roadster to the operatic violence of the Lamborghini Aventador Roadster, Sant’Agata’s open-air lineage has always been about excess turned experiential. But if those cars are wild, the brand’s “Few Off” roadsters are something else entirely—machines that feel less like production cars and more like rolling declarations of technical dominance.

These are not convertibles in the traditional sense. They are rarefied objects—built in numbers so small they border on myth—where engineering ambition, design extremism, and raw performance converge without apology. They don’t just deliver speed; they deliver an event.

The DNA traces back further than you might expect. In 1968, the Lamborghini Miura Roadster—a one-off interpretation by Bertone—hinted at what could happen when Lamborghini loosened its own rules. It wasn’t just a roofless Miura; it was a statement that even the company’s most sacred forms weren’t beyond reinvention.

That idea simmered for decades before erupting into something far more aggressive. Enter the Lamborghini Reventón Roadster, the car that effectively launched the Few Off roadster bloodline. Limited to just 15 examples, it looked less like a car and more like it had been cleared for takeoff. Fighter-jet-inspired surfaces, razor edges, and a 6.5-liter V12 producing 650 horsepower made it brutally fast—0–100 km/h in 3.4 seconds, with a top end north of 340 km/h. More importantly, it introduced Lamborghini’s first fully digital instrument cluster, proving that theatrics and technology could coexist.

If the Reventón was dramatic, the Lamborghini Veneno Roadster was unhinged. Built to celebrate Lamborghini’s 50th anniversary (in coupé form), the roadster variant took the concept of aerodynamics and turned it into sculpture. Only nine were made. With 750 horsepower from its naturally aspirated V12, it hit 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds and kept pulling to 355 km/h. Every surface seemed designed by wind tunnel and imagination in equal measure—massive wings, exposed aero elements, and carbon fiber everywhere, including Lamborghini’s exotic Carbon Skin® interior.

Then came the Lamborghini Centenario Roadster, a centennial tribute to founder Ferruccio Lamborghini. Limited to 20 units, it refined the madness with technology that would later trickle down into more “normal” Lamborghinis. Rear-wheel steering sharpened agility, a touchscreen infotainment system modernized the cabin, and the 770-hp V12 delivered the now-familiar 2.8-second sprint to 100 km/h. It was still outrageous—but now it was also quietly influential.

And then, inevitably, electrification arrived. The Lamborghini Sián Roadster didn’t abandon the V12—it amplified it. Pairing the traditional 6.5-liter engine with a 48-volt electric motor integrated into the gearbox, it produced a combined 819 horsepower. Limited to 19 units, it marked the beginning of Lamborghini’s hybrid era, without dulling any of the brand’s signature brutality.

Across more than six decades—from the Miura Roadster’s experimental spark to the Sián’s electrified fury—these Few Off machines have defined the outer edge of what a supercar can be. They are not designed to be practical, attainable, or even particularly usable. That’s the point.

Because when Lamborghini builds a roofless V12 flagship in single-digit or near-single-digit numbers, it isn’t solving a problem. It’s making a statement: that performance can still be theatrical, that design can still be fearless, and that the experience of driving—wind in your face, V12 at full scream—can still feel like the most important thing in the world.

And in an era increasingly defined by silence and software, that might be the most radical idea of all.

Source: Lamborghini