Lamborghini CEO says no to SUV and coupe.

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Supercar firm Lamborghini has sensationally axed plans to add two new models to its supercar line-up.

The news comes as its owner, the VW Group, angrily denied claims it was planning to sell the luxury brand, along with stablemates Bentley and Bugatti. The German giant also poured cold water on claims that it will cease production of its own luxury flagship, the Phaeton, although it is looking into reducing the number of trim levels available with the car.

Lambo bosses had been investigating making an SUV to rival the Porsche Cayenne Turbo and built a concept car, revealed by Auto Express in Issue 894 (below). There were plans, too, for a supersaloon successor to its legendary Espada from the Seventies. However, talking exclusively to Auto Express, company president Stephan Winkelmann said: “I’m a fan of SUVs, but making one isn’t on the radar for this decade. We’re such a small company, we couldn’t do one on our own. Still, it would make more sense for us to do one of those than a four-seater.”

Instead, Lamborghini will concentrate on producing at least one new derivative of its current Murciélago and Gallardo per year. “We will look at lowering weight, and maybe two-wheel drive,” he said. “I believe the future of this firm lies in increasing our cars’ power-to-weight ratio rather than outright strength.
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Good news in my mind.
 
It's refreshing to see a car company focus on improving its current products rather than devoting their resources to diluting their brand on vehicles that don't share the company's image.
 
I would like to see a Lamborghini that weighs around 3000 lbs. Now that would be fast.
 
On the SUV front I have to confess a soft spot for the old LM002, it was such a totally silly car for Lambo to make. So I almost wished they would repeat it.

lamborghini_lm002.jpg


Scaff
 
Funny, as it's VAG sister Bentley is still looking to build it's W-12 SUV.
 
Wait wait, this is excellent news.

First the death of a potential SUV...then news of them focusing on existing models.

RWD, lighter, more focused Gallardo? What's not to love?
 
Onikaze
Wait wait, this is excellent news.

First the death of a potential SUV...then news of them focusing on existing models.

RWD, lighter, more focused Gallardo? What's not to love?
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It is excellent news, maybe American automakers should copy this idea also; GM axing the 'Blazer and making ANOTHER Hummer = :yuck:
 
I knew Lamborghini wouldn't do this. Esp. not with the Murcielago-replacement coming in 3-4 years.

The LP640 currently replaces the Murcielago, and only 300 are planned for each year for a suspected 3 years. Afterwards, Lamborghini will show the next supercar that is involved to be equipped with a 700Hp V12.
 
I'm impressed. Of all the owners that Lamborghini's had, I thought Audi would surely push their heavy car/all-wheel-drive influence the most. And while light weight and efficiency aren't exactly the pillars Lamborghini's been founded upon, it goes along well with the lighter-is-better subtext that's creeping into some auto manufacturers:

M3/M6 with a carbon fiber roof
Pagani (this super has been brought to you by the letter F)
Ferrari going CF everything
Lotus making headway in the US market
Jaguar finally proving that aluminum can make a lighter car

There's others, but of them all Lamborghini needs it the most. It's already a stupendous car, and anything that moves them more towards Caterham than Cadillac is a plus in my book.
 
harrytuttle
I'm impressed. Of all the owners that Lamborghini's had, I thought Audi would surely push their heavy car/all-wheel-drive influence the most. And while light weight and efficiency aren't exactly the pillars Lamborghini's been founded upon, it goes along well with the lighter-is-better subtext that's creeping into some auto manufacturers:
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I'm impressed with Lambo's move to weight saving - modern cars are putting on so much weight. Making a car lighter will help its performance in every field. You can improve a heavy car's performance on paper by giving it more power - but then you have to reign in its rolling mass somehow. So you give it massive wheels (which adds more weight and reduces ride quality) and develop loads of 'driver aids' which all reduce the quality of driver feed-back and handling. This seems to be Mercedes favoured route of development.
 
Tell me about it. Even "lightweights" like the Elise are pushing over 800 kgs nowadays. But some engineers are of the opinion that weight gain due to safety constrictions have reached an upper limit. Cars will only get heavier from now on because of space and luxury.
 
I've been gladdened by Audi's tenure of Lamborghini. I've loved both companies for years and years, and seeing them getting together and getting stronger because of it is fantastic. Anyone who complains that the Gallardo and Murcielago have switchgear from the A8 obviously doesn't understand what a beautiful place to be the A8 is.

What I find most satisfying is that Audi have sorted out all the build issues with Lamborghinis, and have made them a higher-quality product, without losing the brand identity, without diluting the extreme nature of the product itself. Audi has, in effect, just made Lamborghini better.

I have noted a number of personal plates that I've seen around a lot on Ferraris are now being worn by Gallardos. This is in itself an endorsement, especially since you can't cross the road in Edinburgh without being at risk of being run over by an Aston Martin.
 
3-Wheel Drive
Too bad Porche never made that decision. Let's just hope they don't repeat the Cayenne...
:indiff:
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Unfortuneatly for many, they've already had many designs and ideas for the next Cayenne and it's planned to be an 'all-go'.
Though in my opinion, it's fairly good.

As for Lamborghini, the idea is great but they're still missing one thing...An addition to their line-up they for some reason, don't have if they want to succeed in the Supercar industry.

My idea:

A rival car for the Enzo, called most-likely the Lamborghini Ferruchio, with exotic lines and a state-of-the-art V12 engine.

Why they haven't thought if this, I wouldn't know, have they no respect for the man who founded Lamborghini?
And no, the LP640 won't do, they need to build something that really gives their brand a strong image and shows that it is a strong supercar manufacturer, ready to challenge anything that confronts them.

Being a Lamborghini enthusiast for many years now I feel the main problem with Lamborghini, is that they need to lift their game and challenge everything Ferarri has to throw at them, do they exect to stand a chance in a market where the F430 prevails?
 
That's just it GT. The old man never wanted to compete. He just wanted to build supercars for folks who enjoyed them. He was against racing his cars against the competitors and disliked the idea of the Miura Jota and Miura SV-R Jotas. It wasn't until after his death the Diablo race cars were spawned.

Audi seems to be "respecting" his wishes though because if Audi backed Lamborghini in the racing field, the R-GTs and GT3-Rs would be a lot more competitive.
 
I doubt it would be a problem for Lamborghini to outbuild Ferrari at some point, but given Ferrrari's masterful engineering process, it would only be a matter of time before they end up topping Lamborghini once again.

But to me, Lamborghini was the "wild-child" alternative to the rather tame Ferrari lineup. They were, and still are, quite quick in most circumstances, but if you wanted to go for show, you went with a Lambo.

Can Lamborghini match the F430? Yes, they could. Will they? I don't know. Given how heavy the Gallarado is, they would have to ditch the AWD setup for one, strip it down to the raw materials (ala Challenge Stradale) and call it a racecar for the street. But even then, I still think Ferrari has it done a helluva lot better.
 
Yes, but that's not Lamborghini's objective. They don't strive to be the best. They don't give a flying flip about Ferrari. They're just compared because they make sports cars in the same category. That's why I only read the compairsons for the views on the Lamborghini.

It should be blantly obvious due to all the different versions of Gallardos there are, and with Affolter sitting there with them offering a bunch of kits.
 
*McLaren*
Yes, but that's not Lamborghini's objective. They don't strive to be the best. They don't give a flying flip about Ferrari. They're just compared because they make sports cars in the same category. That's why I only read the compairsons for the views on the Lamborghini.

It should be blantly obvious due to all the different versions of Gallardos there are, and with Affolter sitting there with them offering a bunch of kits.
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I would think that they do give a flying flip about Ferrari - any manufacturer who ignores what their closest competitor is upto would'nt be in business for long.

I like the way Lamborghini don't rely on heritage and motorsport pedigree like Ferrari do, but still manage to produce fantastic looking cars that are more-or-less as good as their Ferrari competitors. The only 'factory' motorsport attempt that i can think of is their (unsuccessful) '80s entry into F1 as a engine supplyer. All the Diablo/Murcielago GT car enteries have been privateers, sometimes with works support.
 
Im glad there not doing an SUV again. The FUBAR'd with the LM004:
LM004c.jpg

And They not going to make the same mistake again. I think they learned their lesson the hard way with that one...
 
The LM002 and its derivatives were pure class - they make the Hummer look feminine.
 
opendriver19a
Im glad there not doing an SUV again. The FUBAR'd with the LM004:
LM004c.jpg

And They not going to make the same mistake again. I think they learned their lesson the hard way with that one...
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The LM004 wasn't even a production model.

There were 2 LM002s made for production. A LM002 for the world, or Europe, and a LM002A for America.
lm002-a.jpg


TheCracker, while Lamborghini might peak once in a while, it's just not what they're goal is. Ferrari can go on selling their name on heritage, esp. when road cars weren't wanted by Enzo, but had to be done to back his racing efforts.

IMHO, the only racing heritage Ferrari has left is Formula 1.
The FIA GT supports that Chrysler has more wins than any other. Ferrari took off from LeMans after Ford came to the picture, and haven't won since.
 
*McLaren*
Yes, but that's not Lamborghini's objective. They don't strive to be the best. They don't give a flying flip about Ferrari. They're just compared because they make sports cars in the same category. That's why I only read the compairsons for the views on the Lamborghini.

It should be blantly obvious due to all the different versions of Gallardos there are, and with Affolter sitting there with them offering a bunch of kits.
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Lamborghini is absolutely following what Ferrari and half a dozen other supercar makers are doing. Originally, Ferruccio did his "own thing", but unsurprisingly it was kind of like Ferrari's thing. It's like the guy at school you really hate, but given the chance you'd want at least half of whatever he's got. The object of your hate often becomes the subconscious object of your desire. Over the last 40 years, as much as Lamborghini has tried to be the anti-Ferrari, there is a constant one-up-manship going on between them.

And you certainly can't say that Lamborghini doesn't strive to be the best (that's Ford's job). They have always tried to portray themselves as the "true" Italian supercar maker, since Enzo only made whatever cars could keep him racing. The reason Lamborghini peaks "once in a while" is because "once in a while" they change ownership. They've also usually had a very small budget, and very low production numbers. That means they "peak" when there's a new car, which wasn't very often.

Now that they're under VAG, they have huge financial and R&D resources behind them, and someone who may be the first to truly believe in the potential of the Brand since 1973, when Ferruccio sold his share off.
 
The Rambo Lambo (LM002) is my favorite model because of its capabilities offroad. I seen it go through light terrain because its a rare piece. If it were made now mine would have a 7.0L V12 w/ Murcielago fuel injection, Ultra robust 6 speed manual and traditional 4WD.
 
harrytuttle
Lamborghini is absolutely following what Ferrari and half a dozen other supercar makers are doing. Originally, Ferruccio did his "own thing", but unsurprisingly it was kind of like Ferrari's thing. It's like the guy at school you really hate, but given the chance you'd want at least half of whatever he's got. The object of your hate often becomes the subconscious object of your desire. Over the last 40 years, as much as Lamborghini has tried to be the anti-Ferrari, there is a constant one-up-manship going on between them.

And you certainly can't say that Lamborghini doesn't strive to be the best (that's Ford's job). They have always tried to portray themselves as the "true" Italian supercar maker, since Enzo only made whatever cars could keep him racing. The reason Lamborghini peaks "once in a while" is because "once in a while" they change ownership. They've also usually had a very small budget, and very low production numbers. That means they "peak" when there's a new car, which wasn't very often.

Now that they're under VAG, they have huge financial and R&D resources behind them, and someone who may be the first to truly believe in the potential of the Brand since 1973, when Ferruccio sold his share off.
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Lamborghini doesn't. It's because of VAG's ownership that makes 'em. It's never really been a one-man up ordeal, because Ferrari has had them covered every way. Yes, Lamborghini started trying with the Diablo, but that was when Ferruccio made the remark that the Diablo completely changed the company's way.

VAG is only doing what Ferruccio never wanted. Competing for the best.
 

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