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VW makes $23K on every Porsche sold, more than Bentley or Lamborghini

It's a good time to be in the luxury car business. In Volkswagen Group's financial report for the 2013 fiscal year, it is revealed that that Porsche enjoyed an operating margin of 18 percent. That means the Stuttgart brand made on average about $23,200 per car sold, according to BusinessWeek. Bentley wasn't far behind, and Audi (which was combined with Lamborghini) posted a 10.1 percent margin. This compares to only around 2.9 percent for the Volkswagen brand.
"Luxury brands are on fire," said Dave Sullivan, an industry analyst at AutoPacific. He said that the average profit margin is between six and eight percent. Brands like Porsche and Bentley have the benefit of competing in rarefied markets. Buyers looking at one their vehicles have fewer models to shop against and don't care as much about price. They can also charge more for options, which further boosts income, according to BusinessWeek.
In a way, we should be more impressed by the continued success from Audi. Its models generally have direct competitors in every segment from the other premium automakers. Plus, their buyers aren't the captains of industry who are shopping for a Bentley. Still, the Four Rings is leading rivals in sales so far this year.

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.

Lamborghini unleashes the refreshed Huracan Evo with Performante V10

After a series of teaser shots, Lamborghini has let the midcycle refresh of its Huracan out of the pen, with a new predictive-logic vehicle dynamics control system to go along with its more aerodynamic redesign. New photos show the sports car in full, with a new front bumper featuring a front splitter and integrated wing, with larger air intakes. Lamborghini's hexagon design references are evident in the windows, 20-inch wheels and the new side air intakes. We also get a full look at the redesigned rear, with the twin exhaust tips up high flanking the license plate and an integrated, slotted spoiler. Lamborghini says aerodynamic improvements, which also include the underbody, improve the Evo's downforce and aerodynamic efficiency more than five times over the Huracan's first generation. It's powered by the Performante 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V10 that's been uprated to 640 horsepower and what the brand says is "an emotional and powerful sound" with titanium intake valves and a refined, lightweight exhaust system. It produces 442 pound-feet of torque at 6,500 rpm, does 0-62 mph in just 2.9 seconds (two tenths of a second faster than before), and has a top speed of more than 202 mph. New on the all-wheel-drive Huracan Evo is rear-wheel steering and a torque vectoring system that works the four wheels. There's also the Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Integrata, a central processing unit that integrates all of the car's dynamic systems and setup to anticipate the next move and the driver's needs to respond with the appropriate driving dynamics. It's also got an enhanced 2.0 version of the Lamborghini Piattaforma Inerziale set of accelerators and gyroscope sensors, with improved precision at monitoring in real-time the lateral, longitudinal and vertical accelerations and also roll, pitch and yaw rates. Also improved is the magnetorheological suspension, which instantaneously adapts the damping based on inputs from the LPI. A new advanced traction-control system allows traction to be directed to a single wheel when needed, and steering is enhanced to provide higher responsiveness in corners, coupled with the rear-wheel steering to ensure agility at low speeds and maximum stability in high-speed cornering and under braking. Three driving modes are offered: Strada, Sport and Corsa race-track mode.