2013 Lamborghini Gallardo Lp560-2 50th Anniversario on 2040-cars

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Aventador sales drive record revenue at Lamborghini

Let it never be said that there isn't money to be made selling high-end exotic sports cars. Last month Ferrari revealed that it had recorded record profits despite selling fewer vehicles than the year before. Now arch-rival Lamborghini has reported record revenue.
For the 2013 fiscal year, Lamborghini has announced that its revenue has increased for the third year straight - rising from 469 million euros last year (just short of $650 million at today's rates) to a record 508 million euros (over $703 million). Lamborghini reports that it has reinvested 20 percent of that turnover back into R&D.
The increased revenues come despite having discontinued its top-selling model, the Gallardo, which wound up its ten-year production run back in November to make way for the new Huracán. The increased revenues came from a higher proportion of Aventadors sold, a rise of 9 percent from 922 units in 2012 to 1,001 in 2013, representing a record for V12 models sold in the company's history and a waiting list of 12 months for a new Aventador.

Lamborghini Huracan Performante is getting a drop-top version

If you just released a specialized, lightweight track weapon with fancy active aerodynamics, what would you do next? If you said chop the car's top off, you must work for Lamborghini, because that's just what the company is doing to its Huracan Performante. Our spy photographer has caught roadster versions of the ultimate Huracan out during testing. The car looks pretty much as you would expect. The lower body work from the front bumper back is all effectively carry-over from the coupe. The rear wing looks to have the same shape and functionality, too. Where things really change is with the engine cover. Like the normal Huracan roadster, the Performante loses the glass engine cover in favor of an opaque cover and a hard tonneau for the top. The engine cover features larger vents at the base of the wing's pedestals, and they appear to have large scoops at the other end. In addition to the new engine cover, this Performante roadster has different wheels which seem to be taken from the standard model. However, these will likely be swapped for the coupe's mesh-style wheels. A close examination shows that the wheels are shod in Pirelli P Zero Corsas that are probably the same compound as the standard tires for the Performante coupe. While this won't be the first time Lamborghini has built a roadster out of its high-performance entry-level sports car, the decision to turn the new Performante into one seems a little strange considering the effort to lighten it and endow it with magical aero. Even more so when the result is a car that Lamborghini claims laps the Nurburgring faster than the bonkers Porsche 918 Spyder. It feels like a step backwards to add a retractable top that probably weighs more and messes with the aerodynamics. But then, Lamborghinis are known mostly for being flashy and fast, and this Performante convertible will fill both criteria with ease. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

VW Group plan puts Porsche in charge of a 'super-premium' division

An Automobile report looks into what's happening on the organizational and technical sides of the Volkswagen Group, and what those changes could mean for the premium brands. The wide-angle view is that Porsche appears to have been anointed to "coordinate the future activities" at Audi, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini. Audi would cede Lamborghini guardianship to Stuttgart, and Ducati — via a new concern called Ducati Enterprises — would become the shepherd for VW's other Italian investments. Executives target Jan. 1, 2019, to complete the reshuffle. VW wants to save a boodle by tying up four of its five top-tier brands, and putting the one with the highest ROI in charge. Porsche, within its own house, wants to reduce expenditures by $2.3 billion per year over for four years, the savings already earmarked for improving internal processes like R&D and production. Having Porsche share those gains as well as lead development of platforms, components and future-tech strategies for the sister sports car brands could benefit everyone. In the near-term, the brands have their own plans: Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann is said to want a Chiron Superleggera, a roofless and "completely reskinned" Chiron Aperta, and a track-only Chiron SS. The Superleggera could take the Chiron Sport's and Divo's Jenny Craig routines even further. The Aperta seems a natural successor to the Veyron Grand Sport, a natural evolution of the recently introduced Sky View roof, and a reskin might include numerous Divo cues. It's also said Bugatti's considering "an all-electric high-end model" in conjunction with Porsche, Rimac, and Dallara, but name one supercar or hypercar manufacturer that isn't considering a lightning-fast EV. Lamborghini, deep into work on follow-ups for the Huracan and Aventador, might get a bit of a bump with the new plan. The carbon "monofuselage" for the next V12 flagship is said to be too far developed and too complex to scrap. It puts two electric motors on the front axle, batteries in the middle, and a naturally aspirated V12 with around 770 horsepower plus another e-motor with 402 horsepower in back. The Huracan is said to get a version of the same carbon architecture at the moment, but the corporate reorganization might press pause on it. Automobile says options include continuing the Huracan/ Audi R8 twinning, but that depends on Audi saying "Ja" to a third-gen R8 with Lamborghini bones.