With the US car industry on the brink of collapse, the Detroit Motor Show was meant to be a “glitz-free” and “austere” affair.

However, foreign car makers attending the major car show may not have gotten the memo.

While US motor companies are slashing costs, cutting jobs and shutting down plants to stay alive, other marques like Mercedes, Bentley and Lamborghini showed off by throwing posh parties at the two-week show to launch their new models.

The Guardian reported that Mercedes served up lobster risotto, merlot and créme brûlée at its swanky launch party for its new E-class sedan.

Sports car maker Lamborghini also glammed it up, draping leggy models over its low-slung speedsters at the show, which started on Sunday.

And despite many Americans struggling to pay their mortgage, Britain’s Bentley was debuting the £146,100 ($316,000) Continental GTC Speed, featuring massage chairs and a lockable ski cabinet in the boot.

The convertible’s launch even prompted one Detroit newspaper to snidely remark that it costs as much as an entire block in the depressed city. But the Bentley staff didn’t seem to think that it was outrageous to debut such an expensive car during such tough times.

The company’s sales and marketing director Stuart McCullough told the Guardian: “At a Detroit show, you’re aiming to put cars on sale for the rest of the world.” This jubilant mood seemed a little out of place when compared to the sombre way US car makers were unveiling new models.

Gone were the smoke machines, publicity stunts and celebrity cameos that were a mainstay at previous shows.

Instead, car executives, like Chrysler sales chief Jim Press, simply stood in front of a curtain and delivered speeches, reported the London Telegraph. Said Mr Mike Jackson, head of AutoNation, America’s largest public car dealership: “I have seen a better mood at funerals.”

This article was first publishsed in The New Paper on Jan 14, 2009.