2012 Lamborghini Aventador Lp 700-4 on 2040-cars

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Living Life Large: Driving $2 million worth of cars in one week

Monterey Car Week has quickly become one of my favorite events of the year. There's something for everyone – classic car shows, modern concepts and new vehicle debuts, auctions, racing, and so much more. From a media perspective, there's also a chance to drive a ton of cars. Many automakers bring their latest wares out to Monterey for us to test during our limited free time, and it's a great opportunity to experience fantastic metal against a gorgeous backdrop. That's exactly what I did this year. Instead of flying into Monterey and being driven around, my journey started in Los Angeles and ended in Napa, and I managed to get behind the wheel of some $2 million worth of new cars. Some were old favorites, and many were new experiences. But looking back, this was one of the best weeks of driving I've had in years. Rather than try to come up with some common arc to tie these cars together, here are my notes on all the cars I tested in California earlier this month, presented in the order in which they were driven. 2016 Mazda CX-3 The CX-3 pictured here isn't the exact one I drove in California, but it's close. The only difference was color – my delivered-to-LAX tester wore Mazda's awesome new Ceramic hue (pictured below on the MX-5 Miata). I used the CX-3 to slum through crummy Los Angeles traffic for two hours on the way out to Santa Barbara, with a quick stop at In-N-Out Burger on the way for good measure. A lot nicer inside than I remember. Everyone praises Mazda for its excellence in engineering and design, but there's a lot to be said for the improvements in overall interior refinement. Quiet, comfortable, and well-equipped; the CX-3 made sitting on the 405 freeway a lot more pleasant. Not all that functional. I had a hard time fitting a week's worth of luggage for two people inside. The cargo area and rear passenger compartment were filled, with only enough room on top to see out the back window. A Honda HR-V would've swallowed all that luggage with plenty of room for more. So good to drive. Not surprising, since this wasn't my first time in the CX-3. I knew this CUV would be good on twisty roads, but on the highway it's really exceptional. Road and wind noise are minimal and the overall ride quality is a comfortable sort of sporty. This is definitely something I could drive every day – it's enjoyable during commuting and entertaining on more interesting roads.

Weekly Recap: Lamborghini fires on all cylinders

Lamborghini added 192 technicians and specialists in 2014 as the Italian automaker expands under the ambitious growth strategy of parent company Volkswagen AG. The additional workers helped Lamborghini increase its sales 19 percent last year to 2,530 supercars, and further expansion is planned for this year. Lambo has added more than 500 people in the last four years, bringing its headcount to 1,175. "Lamborghini is undergoing a strong phase of growth in both sales and in terms of recruitment," CEO Stephan Winkelmann said in a statement. "We invest significantly in our people ... in 2015 we plan to hire further." The supercar maker's solid performance last year came during a time of transition. Lambo sold off the final 265 Gallardos, which were the brand's best-selling models ever. Its 10-cylinder successor, the Huracan, immediately filled the void. It garnered 3,300 orders, and 1,137 of them were delivered in 2014. The other Lamborghini, the 12-cylinder Aventador, saw its sales increase 13 percent to 1,128 copies. The sales leap comes as Volkswagen drives sales expansion across its portfolio of brands. The German carmaker sold 10 million vehicles around the world for the first time last year. Though Lambo will never make supercars in great numbers, it is expected to contribute to VW's bottom line through its image and profitable sales. Look for further growth this year, and a Super Veloce version (shown above) of the Aventador has already been spotted during testing. Lamborghini has been working on a sport utility vehicle for years, though the company has never publicly approved the project. It also showed a hybrid, the Asterion, at last year's Paris Motor show, suggesting the automaker is considering an electric future. Other News and Notes GMC ponders Jeep Wrangler fighter GMC is considering adding a competitor to the Jeep Wrangler and has discussed the idea with its dealers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Details of the vehicle are unclear, but the report suggested the vehicle could have cues from General Motors' old Hummer brand. The move would broaden GMC's lineup of trucks and SUVs and attract new customers. GMC sold 501,853 vehicles in 2014, making it GM's second-best selling brand. GMC had more volume than Cadillac and Buick combined, though it's still well behind Chevrolet's tally of more than two million vehicles. The notion of a "Wrangler fighter" could be a moving target.

Lamborghini goes from carbon fiber to carbon neutral [w/video]

Draw up a list in your mind of automakers striving to "save the environment," and you might be forgiven for not ranking Lamborghini very high on impressions alone. After all, it only makes supercars with double-digit cylinder counts, displacing over 5.0 liters, and producing in excess of 600 horsepower. Hardly what you'd characterize as "green" modes of transportation, then. And though it recently showed a hybrid sports car concept, it has opted next to build an SUV instead. However the Raging Bull marque is out to rehabilitate its image by changing the reality of its carbon footprint. It's just not about to do so by watering down the supercars for which it is known. "We are not here to please a single customer. We are here to pass this territory unharmed to the next generation." – Lamborghini CEO, Stephan Winkelmann This week the Italian automaker officially opened its new Trigeneration Plant – which is not, lest you think otherwise, an assembly facility spanning multiple eras of production. It's a new power plant, built on the site of the company's headquarters in Sant'Agata Bolognese, that will generate its electricity, heating, and cooling, all from the same source of natural gas. The plant has an installed (potential) capacity of 1.2 megawatts, and will (practically speaking) be capable of generating over 25,000 MWh every year. That'd be enough to power all the houses in Sant'Agata, the otherwise sleepy town which Lamborghini shares with about 7,000 residents. The clean-burning facility is estimated to cut out 820 tons of CO2 every year, and by 2017 is slated to run on biofuel to raise that figure to a claimed 5,600 tons per year. The question is, who cares? Sure, people buying EVs and free-range chickens want to be assured that their buying habits fit their environmental conscience, but does the average Lamborghini buyer really care if their new supercar came from an environmentally friendly factory? "If we are going to do the things only because of the importance first thing for the customer, we would not be here anymore," Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann told us during roundtable discussion at the opening of the Trigeneration Plant. "We are not here to please a single customer. We are here to pass this territory unharmed to the next generation." "It would be ridiculous if you would say we are going to save the world.