Some on the US west coast probably only laughed at the news from Geneva.
The spring auto show in Switzerland has been canceled for the fourth consecutive year, this time due to a lack of interest.
Meanwhile, the Monterey Car Week in California is booming: What started out as a vintage car concours more than 70 years ago has now become the largest and perhaps even the most important event in the PS world.
The petrolheads are having a roaring, full-throttle party on the Peninsula two hours south of San Francisco, and judges are inspecting the finest scrap metal at the 18th hole of the Pebble Beach golf course.
The many hundreds of thousands of visitors there are united by their unbroken – if mostly unreflected – fascination with vehicles of all price classes and segments.
There are the rust buckets at the "Concours de Lemons", Germanic full-throttle joy at the "Legends of Autobahn" or southern passion at the "Concorso Italiano".
There is the rather embarrassing appearance of modern hypercars at the booming »Fuelrun«, the charming Little Car Show with small and micro cars from all over the world - but also auctions worth millions and the central beauty contest Concours d'Elegance.
In addition to collectors and self-promoters, the manufacturers are now making the music for the party on a large scale.
They benefit from the fact that nobody here asks about CO2 emissions and sustainability and that the money is very easy.
And so they are now celebrating almost more premieres in Pebble than at classic car shows - if they still take place at all.
However, the companies represented do not completely ignore the global issues in Pebble Beach either.
Mercedes has brought along the new G-Class 4x42, which towers so high with its portal axles that visitors to the stand need a platform to try out the seats.
However, there is also a preview of the equally massive, but electrically powered EQ G. With its three Sphere studies, which are combined on one stage for the first time, Audi is preparing for the electric future of the brand.
Lincoln, perhaps the most traditional luxury brand from the USA, is showing a battery-powered spaceship on wheels that anticipates fully autonomous driving.
Taken together, the mood at Monterey Carweek is somewhat sentimental.
There is talk of the near end of the time when the number of cylinders still defined the importance of a car.
Something like this can be heard from people from brands like Aston Martin, Bentley or Bugatti.
Almost a little defiantly, they all conjure up particularly strong, fast, exclusive cars with V12, W12 or W16 units and up to 1600 hp from the hat - and ask for all the higher prices for them.
“The best for last” could be the motto.
In fact, the manufacturers are earning better than ever because two phenomena are coming together: after the corona restrictions, many full-throttle fanatics prefer to splurge, while at the same time some are driven by a kind of last-minute internal combustion engine panic.
And so the PS treasures are sold out long before they gleam in the Pacific sun.
This applies to the 25 copies of the McLaren Solus GT, which cost three million, as well as to the 18 copies of the Bentley Bator, each costing 1.65 million plus taxes, or the five million for the Buggati Mistral, which is the world's fastest roadster and is built 99 times.
Is this party going on in Bebble Beach?
These are still bargains compared to some classic cars that are auctioned at Goodings, Sothebys and others here every minute over three days and sometimes achieve eight-digit prices: the auction houses turned over more than 450 million dollars over the long weekend, reports market observer Hagerty, and with it the Record from 2015 exceeded by around 60 million.
Will this Bebble Beach party continue as the gas age draws to a close?
Probably yes - because the focus is still on the classic cars.
In addition, the new players in the car world play according to the old rules and satisfy the greed for toys and superlatives.
Between all the Pagani, Bugatti and Koenigsegg, a few electric hyper sports cars like the Rimac Nevera or the Pininfarina Battista buzz along 17 Miles Drive.
The show's most powerful sedan comes from Lucid, not AMG or M GmbH.
As a Saphire Edition, the Lucid Air now has over 1200 hp and thus secures pole position in the business class.
Two old acquaintances at the Monterey Car Werk show that the old and new worlds are becoming increasingly blurred: Buggy inventor Mayers Manx present the electric beach runabout that could have become the VW ID Buggy.
DeLorean is celebrating its comeback at the charging station with a gullwing for the whole family, which is to find its way as the Alpha5 with estimates of around $200,000.
All just yesterday's boasting about a new drive?
Not for the Cologne design professor Paolo Tumminelli.
He even praises: "The concept of a concours, to stage itself with expensive, exotic carriages in a wonderfully relaxed context, is as old as the world." It was no different with the most elegant horse-drawn carriages.
The places where millionaires presented the floats were often particularly well maintained and served as parks for the general public.
"Even the rich need space," says Tumminelli.
»And where should you steer a Bugatti or Ferrari worth millions if not through such an elite parallel universe.«
