Earlier this year we stumbled upon rumors about Mercedes-AMG planning to develop a supercar that would compete against the Aston Martin AM-RB 001. In September, another report said that the German brand will unveil the vehicle at the 2016 Paris Motor Show. Mercedes-Benz just held its preliminary press conference at the show, and even though it had no hypercar to present, it did confirm that an extreme performance vehicle is indeed underway.

Following a short speech about the brand's new record sales for the year and a presentation of the new GT C Roadster, Thomas Weber revealed that AMG is working on a performance hybrid vehicle featuring the company's Formula One drivetrain technology. As expected, Weber didn't have any specific details to share, but said that the new hypercar will show "how we will take our performance car into the future" and that there will be "no compromise in terms of emotional appeal."

During Weber's speech, the big screen behind him displayed what appeared to be a simple profile sketch of the vehicle. If this is indeed a drawing of the actual car, it will feature a Le Mans prototype-inspired design with massive fenders, prominent side skirts, and LMP1-style roof scoop that transforms into a fin toward the rear wing.

There's no word as to when this hypercar will arrive, but more info should become available as the Paris Motor Show kicks off tomorrow. Stay tuned for updates!

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Why it matters

It's not like we didn't believe all those rumors about the AMG hypercar, but I was still skeptical that Mercedes-Benz is willing to invest in such a vehicle right now. Also, it was hard to believe that it was such a well kept secret, to the extent that AMG would unveil it in Paris without a single photo or spec sheet leaked onto the Web. But it turns out Mercedes is indeed working on its most extreme vehicle yet, and even though we won't get to see it in Paris, it will most likely hit the street -- at least in prototype form -- sometime in 2017. Aston Martin's AM-RB 001 will have a similar hypercar to play with and that's awesome news for us who can't afford such crazy machines. Just think of all the cool track videos we will get to enjoy.