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AUTOS: Lamborghini Planning Third Model
Exotic-sports-car maker will reveal direction of more-mainstream product early next year, CEO says.
Marty Padgett  | http://thecarconnection.com  |  Posted October 04, 2011   Frankfurt (GER)
The Lamborghini Estoque Concept shown at 2008 auto shows could provide some clues about the automaker's plans. (Photo: Lamborghini)
Lamborghini will decide by the "beginning of next year" on what form its third model will take, whether it's a sedan, an SUV or something entirely unexpected.

A concept car in advance of the new vehicle seems a likely candidate for the upcoming 2012 Geneva Motor Show. In an interview at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show, CEO Stephan Winkelmann said, "When we decide, we will show something." The resulting vehicle will not be on sale before 2016, Winkelmann said.

The highly anticipated Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 was revealed in all its angular glory in Geneva. (Photo: Wouter Melssen)
Winkelmann said it's clear that his company has to expand into non-sports-car segments to get to the profitability that's come to such automakers as Porsche. That brand has become the business model for luxury automakers seeking to expand out of the supercar realm, including Lamborghini, but also Bentley, Aston Martin and Maserati.

Lamborghini is one of the few luxury brands with just two models, Winkelmann said, and SUVs and sedans are the kinds of vehicles you have to build, "If you want Lambos around in the future."

"It's different than in the Sixties," he added.

Adding a non-supercar to the Lamborghini lineup has been on the drawing boards since 2007, when the brand hit record sales of more than 900 vehicles worldwide. At the 2008 Paris Auto Show, Lamborghini unveiled the Estoque, a four-door sedan with chiseled styling that was later named to several best-of lists from the show.

Lamborghini displayed its technology showpiece, the Sesto Elemento concept car, on its stand at the Paris Motor Show. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
The Estoque seemed a logical candidate for production, and Winkelmann said it's always a goal to produce batches of cars shown as concepts. Lamborghini will build 20 Sesto Elemento carbon-fiber supercars, after displaying that vehicle on last year's auto-show circuit.

"The Estoque was a bit different," he now explains. "At that time we wanted to test the reaction to Lamborghini outside of the super-sports-car segment."

Any new model would have to be consistent with the brand image, he said, and the Estoque proved a move outside of supercars would be the right move.

Winkelmann confirms that by the beginning of 2012, "we will know more or less" which model the company will build to accompany its Aventador and Gallardo supercars in showrooms.

While downplaying the importance of the Estoque, he confirms that "the SUV is a potential segment" and that part of the calculus for any new model is "what the (Volkswagen) group can do for you."
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