Exotics

The cancellation of this year's Geneva auto show was only the beginning of what has become an odd and unpredictable year for the auto industry's most expensive brands.

Since the last-minute implosion of one of the most important consumer shows on the ultraluxury and exotic segment's yearly calendar, life for the elite brands has been anything but ordinary because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual unveilings quickly became the thing to do as Bentley showed its $1.9 million Bacalar roadster and McLaren took the wraps off its lightweight 765LT via the Internet.

Like the mass-market industry, the exotic automakers also began shutting down their factories and shifting to production and engineering of needed medical supplies.

All three McLaren Group units joined the effort to make ventilators. Lamborghini converted part of its factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, to produce surgical masks and protective shields for a hospital in that hard-hit region. Bentley made face shields and donated personal protective equipment.

The crisis found Aston Martin in a more dramatic change: In the midst of helping produce personal protective gear and offering free vehicle repairs for health care workers at Milton Keynes University Hospital in Eaglestone, England, Aston Martin named a new executive chairman, Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll.

Stroll has been instrumental in resetting the company's business plan after the consortium he controls invested $656 million in the automaker in February.

Much of Aston Martin's future now rests on the DBX, the brand's entry into the SUV segment. DBX production is set to resume Tuesday, May 5, at the company's new factory in St. Athan, Wales.

Lamborghini said production will resume Monday, May 4, while Bentley is aiming for a Monday, May 11, restart. Ferrari also plans to restart this month.

In another blow to the year's planning, the high-end segment will lose its vital Monterey Car Week in California in August. Monterey's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and The Quail were canceled because of COVID-19 concerns. Both are major marketing events for the luxury brands, where well-heeled customers kick tires and put in their orders for the year, and executives and designers interact with potential buyers and collectors to learn what the market wants.