Photo : Kristen Lee ( Jalopnik )

Things are peachy right now at Lamborghini. Thanks to the Urus SUV, the Italian automaker has enjoyed a massive increase in sales and welcomed a large number of new customers to the brand. But if things slow down, its parent company, Volkswagen Group, might start thinking about an IPO or even a sale.


Companies are forever looking to expand, and Volkswagen Group is no different. CEO Herbert Diess reportedly has plans to achieve a market value for Volkswagen of €200 billion (about $220 billion) , according to Bloomberg, which cited unnamed sources. Currently, the company is is valued at €81 billion (about $89 billion) . In the face of slowing sales and economic unrest, this seems like an extremely ambitious plan.

To do that, the CEO is allegedly mulling over a sale or stock listing for Lamborghini—not unlike what happened to Ferrari—in favor of expanding bigger brands like Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen instead.


The unnamed sources told Bloomberg Volkswagen Group has “started preparations to fold Lamborghini into a separate legal entity and the process might conclude toward the end of next year.”

It does sort of seem like Lamborghini’s been living on borrowed time recently, as Georg Kacher over at Automobile Magazine pointed out in August. Yes, Lamborghini trots out dazzling limited edition models pretty frequently, but the Aventador is quite old and the Huracán just went through a facelift, despite being around since 2014.

Where is the Aventador successor? Per Kacher

Lambo needs a decision on the Aventador replacement about as badly as a junkie needs his next shot, but decision-making has never been Audi’s forte. Which is why the VW Group product strategy committee (PSK) keeps pushing back the Aventador MkII, first from 2020 to 2021, then to 2022, and now to 2024, which would relegate 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 the Aventador’s ancient V-12 to the EU7 emission standard. Instead, they would rather use hybridized, high-performance V-8 engines for both models, refusing to acknowledge that without the iconic V-12, the Aventador is little more than a token gesture.


Right, because the Lamborghini Sián, which was just unveiled in September, uses a hybrid V12. But it’s no true Aventador replacement, as only 63 examples are being made.

It’s quite possible VW execs aren’t turning on the Lambo taps just yet, not until they decide what to do with the brand. Guess we’ll find out in 2020.