2004 Lamborghini Gallardo Coupe. Silver Over Black. E-gear. 22,898 Miles. on 2040-cars

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As VW electrifies, it questions the role of Lamborghini, Bugatti, Ducati

FRANKFURT — Volkswagen needs to change to stay relevant in the electric and digital vehicle era and will announce "important steps" to that end before the close of the year, Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Wednesday. "Volkswagen needs to change: From a collection of valuable brands and fascinating combustion-engine products that thrill customers with superb engineering — to a digital company that reliably operates millions of mobility devices worldwide," Diess told shareholders at the company's virtual general meeting. Vehicles need to stay in contact with customers, offer new services and comfort functions on a weekly or even daily basis, he said. "We will take further important steps to set the course for this in the rest of 2020," Diess said. Senior executives told Reuters the company is reviewing what role its high-performance brands Lamborghini, Bugatti and Ducati will play as the company increasingly focuses on electric, digital and autonomous vehicles. Volkswagen, which also owns VW, Audi, Porsche, Seat and Skoda, is looking at whether it has the resources to accelerate development of electric platforms for smaller brands at a time it is investing billions to transform its more mainstream cars. Asked whether Ducati, which is known for making noisy combustion-engined motorbikes, has an electric future, Markus Duesmann, who oversees research and development for the group, said: "It will not take long until we see an electric Ducati." Whether Ducati, which is a medium-sized premium motorbike brand, would offer an electric variant, depends on whether a bike could offer range comparable to a combustion-engined variant, Duesmann said. Advances are being made in battery technology which could make this possible, he added. Separately Frank Witter, the company's chief financial officer, in response to a question about whether a sale of Lamborghini is planned, said Volkswagen does not comment on speculation about potential divestments. Lamborghini's Chief Executive Stefano Domenicali this week announced his departure from the sports car maker to take on a new job as president of Formula One. VW needs cash Volkswagen is reviewing the future of these three high-performance brands as part of broader quest for more economies of scale as it shifts to mass producing electric cars, senior executives told Reuters.

Ducati channels the Lamborghini Sian's design DNA into the 1260 Diavel

Lamborghini purchased Ducati in 2012, but the two companies waited until 2020 to release a jointly-developed motorcycle. It's a limited-edition variant of the 1260 Diavel inspired by the sold-out Sian FKP 37. Stylists from the Centro Stile Ducati and the Centro Stile Lamborghini — studios located within a stone's throw of each other — worked together to transfer some of the Sian's defining styling cues onto the 1260 Diavel. Fins, vents, and sharp lines characterize the Lamborghini, so the Ducati received redesigned air intakes on either side of the fuel tank and reshaped radiator covers. The add-ons are made with carbon fiber, like the Sian's body. Color forges the strongest visual links between the 1260 Diavel and the Sian. It rides on forged, gold-painted wheels that echo the design of the car's rims, and it's painted in the same shade of green as the Sian that was displayed at the 2019 edition of the Frankfurt Auto Show. Lamborghini pledged to make every example unique, so other colors are on the palette, but Verde Gea is the launch color that many enthusiasts associate with the car. As wild as a V12-powered motorcycle would be, Ducati wisely kept the regular Diavel's 1.3-liter two-cylinder engine. It produces 157 horsepower at 9,000 rpm and 95 pound-feet of torque at 7,500 rpm, which are hugely impressive figures for a bike that weighs about 485 pounds. It's not as daunting to ride as it might sound thanks in part to electronic aids like Ducati Traction Control Evo, Cornering ABS Evo, and Ducati Wheelie Control Evo that are powered by a six-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) platform provided by Bosch. A total of 630 units of the Ducati 1260 Diavel Lamborghini will be available globally. Pricing starts at $31,995, so it's about $11,000 more expensive than the base model, and deliveries will begin in January 2021. Enthusiasts who want the full collection of Sian-inspired products can also order a 4,000-horsepower yacht and a 1/8-scale Lego kit. lamborghini-sian-official-6 View 18 Photos What's a Sian? Offered as a coupe and as a Roadster, and sold-out almost immediately, the Sian stands out as Lamborghini's first series-produced hybrid, and as the most powerful street-legal car the firm has ever released. Its powertrain consists of a mid-mounted, naturally-aspirated V12 engine and an electric motor integrated into the transmission.

Italdesign Giugiaro Parcour Concept

Coachbuilt Italian Finery Rides High In The Mediterranean
Apparently, the appropriate gift to give for the 45th anniversary of almost anything is a blue sapphire stone. I cannot imagine Autoblog readers craving a story about that, so I'm glad that Italdesign Giugiaro spared me that gig and instead created this truly interesting Parcour concept to mark its 45th anniversary.
Parcour is named after the generally urban activity of French origin (spelled "parkour"), of throwing one's (presumably) agile body off walls and railings in an anti-gravity freestyle momentum ballet. This sometimes ends up being broadcast on YouTube, particularly to show a parkour session gone horribly wrong, with the star taking a metal banister in the cojones or receiving a fetching bouquet of twisted fingers. Clearly design boss at Giugiaro, Fabrizio Giugiaro (son of legend Giorgetto), and his squad had more coordinated good parkour-ing in mind when they let me drive their cool creation on the island of Sardinia. (I live not far away, so it's a one-hour flight with the herds on a low-cost airline.)