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Lamborghini spotted filming new Aventador SV completely undisguised

There is a great tradition at Lamborghini in turning its mid-engined V12 supercars into Super Veloce ("High Speed") versions. So after the Aventador hit the scene, we knew it would only be a matter of time before it was to receive the SV treatment. And here it is, spied completely undisguised during a video shoot. Now, we first spotted what we thought was the Aventador SV way back in April, 2013 – the same day, incidentally, that the LP720-4 50° Anniversario edition surfaced. That was a long time ago, however, and what we see here looks like a different beast entirely. It's got a completely reshaped front bumper, bigger air intakes, deeper side sills and a fresh set of steamroller alloys. Out back, there's a massive rear wing and below it, a new rear end with a bigger diffuser and – instead of one central exhaust – four individual pipes to let the big twelve-cylinder engine breath. Speaking of which, you can expect the Aventador SV to come with a big power bump. Just how big, we don't know for sure, but we can extrapolate. When the Miura SV hit the scene in the early 1970s, it only packed 15 more horsepower than the existing model. Though the Countach bred a series of variants over its long lifetime, it never got an SV edition. The Diablo SV arrived five years after its donor with an 18-horse bump, later raised by another 19 hp. But after the Murcielago arrived in 2001 with 572 hp and bumped up to 631 hp in 2006, the SV model came in 2009 with 661 hp. Given that the "standard" Aventador has been out since 2011, we're about on schedule for the Super Veloce, and if precedent proves anything, we could be looking at upwards of 750 horses to come riding around the mountain when they come to the Geneva Motor Show in March. Featured Gallery Lamborghini Aventador SV: Spy Shots View 11 Photos Image Credit: Borja Perez/CarPix Spy Photos Lamborghini Coupe Supercars lamborghini aventador sv

Why Italians are no longer buying supercars

Italy is the wound that continues to drain blood from the body financial of Italian supercar and sports car makers. The wound was opened by the country's various financial police who decided to get serious about superyacht-owning and supercar-driving tax cheats a few years ago, by noting their registrations and checking their incomes. When it was found that a rather high percentage of exotic toy owners had claimed a rather low annual income - certain business owners were found to be declaring less income than their employees - the owners began dumping their cars and prospective buyers declined to buy.
Car and Driver has a piece on how the initiative is hitting the home market the hardest. Lamborghini sold 1,302 cars worldwide in 2010, 1,602 cars in 2011 and 2,083 cars in 2012 - an excellent surge in just two years. In Italy, however, it's all about the ebb: in 2010, the year that Italian police began scouring harbors, Lamborghini sold 96 cars in Italy, the next year it sold 72, last year it sold just 60. The declines for Maserati and Ferrari are even more pronounced.
Head over to CD for the full story and the numbers. What might be most incredible isn't the cause and effect, but where the blame is being placed. A year ago the chairman of Italy's Federauto accused the government of "terrorizing potential clients," this year Luca di Montezemolo says what's happening has created "a hostile environment for ­luxury goods." Life at the top, it ain't easy.

Lamborghini's Lock out as American COO

It looks like Lamborghini is going to need a new executive to run its North American operations, as the man who's held the job until now has parted ways with the exotic automaker.
That man is Michael Lock, who has held the position of Chief Operating Officer at Automobile Lamborghini America LLC for nearly two years now. We don't know what the reasons are for his departure, or for that matter whether the departure was instigated by Lamborghini or Lock. However, Lamborghini's official notice released yesterday does state rather flatly: "as of today the collaboration with Michael Lock, COO of Automobili Lamborghini America, is terminated" even as it thanks the executive for his efforts and wishes him the best moving forward.
For the moment, Lock's post will be assumed by Thomas Felbermair, Commercial Director at Automobili Lamborghini, while site operations will be handled by Rene? Sueltzner, who is also in charge of after sales at Automobili Lamborghini America.