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2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP720-4 50 Anniversario is indeed worth celebrating

Here is the Giallo Maggio candle that carries the flame of Lamborghini's 50th anniversary: the
Aventador LP720-4 50 Anniversario Edition. There will be just 100 of them produced, each one in the buttery hue that has been the most popular color among the Lamborghini palette since the Miura arrived in 1966.
This limited-edition Aventador gets 20 more horsepower than the standard car for a total of 720 horses, and there's a new aerodynamics package to keep all of them planted on the ground. Inside, there's new leather in colors tied to the Bolognese home of Lamborghini: Terra Emilia brown or Giallo Quercus yellow, and black. A new diamond type of stitching also sets it apart from any other Aventador out there.

The rationale behind Lamborghini's Urus

If you've been following developments in Sant'Agata Bolognese lately, you'll know that the world's most unabashed supercar producer is adding an SUV. Code-named "Urus," it will join the brand's existing two-model (Aventador/Huracan) lineup. It's a bold move for a company with a reputation built on iconic two-seaters including the Miura, Countach, and Diablo, and by its CEO's own admission the decision "will radically change Lamborghini." Why risk the company's exclusive, extroverted image on a vehicle associated with mundane tasks and parents who can't bear the thought of driving a minivan? Two reasons, says CEO Stephan Winkelmann. "The SUV Segment is still fast growing worldwide," he notes. Indeed, global demand for SUVs is up 88 percent since 2008, making utility vehicles the fastest-growing segment around the world, according to IHS Automotive. Utilities now comprise 19 percent of the global vehicle market. In addition, "sales can be equally distributed over our three major regions...the Americas (the US is Lambo's top market), EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), and Asia Pacific." Lamborghini expects Urus to double sales from its current 2,500 cars per year to nearly 5,000. Adding a third model line "supports more consistent volumes and competitiveness of the company and our dealers," he continues. Further, Winkelmann maintains that an SUV fits the DNA of Lamborghini. "Our brand has a history of many types of cars such as GTs, super sports cars, and with the LM002 from 1986 to 1992, even an SUV. We learned together with our designers and product people that the SUV represented this opportunity the best." Structural implications include an expansion of the diminutive company's roughly 1,200-employee workforce by 50 percent, or 500 new hires, and the construction of a new facility near its headquarters to build the Urus. Building the new Lamborghini in Bologna is key to differentiating Urus from the other Volkswagen Group premium SUVs (Bentley Bentayga; Porsche Cayenne; Audi Q7 and Q8; and Volkswagen Touareg) that will share the same platform, and Winkelmann put great effort into persuading VW the move made economic sense. "We worked many months building the business case for approval because we are convinced the SUV will be a success and the best place to build it is in Sant'Agata Bolognese," Winkelmann stresses. "We are not simply adding another line in an existing building. Rather, we are talking about greenfield construction.

Lamborghini Veneno could be yours for just $11 million

How could an automaker charge over three million euros for a single automobile, no matter how rare or extreme? That's what we wondered when Lamborghini took the wraps off the Veneno at the Geneva Motor Show, with a price tag working out to over $4 million US using exchange rates at the time. But that suddenly seems downright reasonable when you see how much this owner is asking for one. Listed for sale on a German website by a broker in Japan, this particular Veneno is accompanied by an asking price of ˆ9.98 million. That works out to over $11 million at current rates, or a good three times what it originally cost when new, depending on which currency you're going by. Either way, that's one heck of a markup for a car now three years old, even if it only has about 840 kilometers (522 miles) on the odometer. You'd think, considering its lofty asking price, the seller could have provided some decent pictures, but apparently not. Lamborghini made only three examples of the Veneno coupe for public consumption, and this example is said to be the second. With the other two sold to owners here in the United States (in Long Island and Miami), this appears to be the one sold to a customer in China, and was previously spotted in Hong Kong on its way to Macau. No matter which way you look at it, the Veneno is a rare beast... even counting the nine roadsters that followed with an even more bullish price tag. Put in that context, the ˆ1.75m-euro ($1.9m) sticker price worn by the Centenario revealed in Geneva this year – also based on the Aventador with a more extreme design – seems like a relative bargain. Related Video: