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At the 2010 Paris Show, Lamborghini unveiled the Sesto Elemento, the conceptual forerunner to the second-generation Murcielago. Made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) virtually from bottom to top, the Sesto Elemento (for "sixth element," because carbon is number six in the periodic table) is said to weigh "under 1000 kilos" (2200 pounds)-and thus it undercuts the 1000-kg mark set by Ferrari with its own lightweight supercar concept, the 2007 Millechili, said to preview the next-generation Enzo. As for Lamborghini's striking two-seater, it uses the chassis and the running gear of the Gallardo Superleggera. It thus is more compact and less extreme than next year's Murcielago replacement, which remains faithful to the big-bore twelve-cylinder engine.

At the 2010 Paris Show, Lamborghini unveiled the Sesto Elemento, the conceptual forerunner to the second-generation Murcielago. Made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) virtually from bottom to top, the Sesto Elemento (for "sixth element," because carbon is number six in the periodic table) is said to weigh "under 1000 kilos" (2200 pounds)-and thus it undercuts the 1000-kg mark set by Ferrari with its own lightweight supercar concept, the 2007 Millechili, said to preview the next-generation Enzo. As for Lamborghini's striking two-seater, it uses the chassis and the running gear of the Gallardo Superleggera. It thus is more compact and less extreme than next year's Murcielago replacement, which remains faithful to the big-bore twelve-cylinder engine.

One can argue that, regardless of Ford's "One Ford" globalized marketing campaign that only recently debuted, the brand's first global car for the new millennium was the 2000 Focus. It promised European-tuned driving dynamics in an attractive set of body styles, unfiltered, and it was sold in markets across the world. We were instantly smitten and named it our 2000 Automobile of the Year, writing that "Ford designers and engineers have scrapped all the old paradigms about what small cars ought to be." Developed under the watchful eye of Ford development chief Richard Parry-Jones, the Focus far surpassed the bar set by its predecessor, the Escort.