Volkswagen Group Could Dump Lamborghini: Report
Things are peach right now at Lamborghini. Thanks to the Urus SUV the Italian carmaker has seen a huge increase in sales and welcomed a large number of new customers to the brand . But if things go slower, the parent company Volkswagen Group might start thinking about a stock exchange listing or even a sale.
The companies are always looking to expand, and the Volkswagen Group is no different. President and CEO Herbert Diess reportedly plans to achieve a market value for Volkswagen of € 200 billion (approximately $ 220 billion) according to Bloomberg citing named sources. Currently, the company is valued at € 81[ads1] billion (approximately $ 89 billion) . In the face of declining sales and financial turmoil, this seems like an extremely ambitious plan.
To do so, the CEO reportedly announces a sale or listing for Lamborghini – not unlike what happened to Ferrari – in favor of expanding larger brands such as Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen instead.
The unnamed sources told the Bloomberg Volkswagen Group "have begun preparations to fold Lamborghini into a separate legal entity, and the process could be completed by the end of next year. "
Lamborghini seems to have been living on borrowed time recently, as Georg Kacher outlined in Automobile Magazine pointed out in August. Yes, Lamborghini exhibits dazzling models in limited edition quite often, but Aventador is quite old and Huracán only went through a facelift despite being around since 2014.
Where is Aventador's successor? Per Kacher
Lambo needs a decision on the Aventador replacement about as bad as a junkie needs his next shot, but the decision making process has never been Audi's forte. That's why VW Group's Product Strategy Committee (PSK) continues to push back the Aventador MkII, first from 2020 to 2021, then to 2022, and now to 2024, which would move the next Huracán to 2025 – and that's an optimistic scenario.
What happened? The German owners are reportedly reluctant to spend the money required to update Aventador's old V-12 to the EU7 emissions standard. Instead, they would rather use hybrid high-performance V-8 engines for both models, refusing to acknowledge that without the iconic V-12, the Aventador is little more than a symbolic gesture.
Right, because Lamborghini Sián just unveiled in September uses a hybrid V12. But there is no real Aventador replacement, of which only 63 examples are made.
It is quite possible that VW executives do not turn on the Lambo cranes yet, not until they decide what to do with the brand. Guess we'll find out by 2020.
