2012 Lamborghini Aventador 2dr Cpe on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Volkswagen posts quarterly profit despite drop in sales

Volkswagen returned to profit in the third quarter as surging Chinese demand for luxury cars helped offset a 1.1% drop in vehicle deliveries due to the pandemic, sending its shares as much as 3% higher on Thursday. The German automaker's return to the black comes amid spiking coronavirus cases in Europe that led governments in France and Germany to order their countries back into strict national lockdowns on Wednesday. "The coronavirus remains a central problem," Volkswagen Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter said in a conference call with reporters. "This situation now is anything but relaxed." But Witter said the group expected the economic recovery to continue and did "not anticipate any nationwide lockdowns in larger markets." Witter said the takeover of U.S. truck maker Navistar International by Volkswagen's trucking unit Traton was an important acquisition, but the "current economic climate will not make this easy." Volkswagen reiterated it expects to post a profit for the full year, saying its business "recovered noticeably" in the third quarter as sales in China of premium vehicles, including Audi and Porsche sports cars, rose 3%. The quarterly performance was also aided by a series of cost-cutting measures launched earlier this year. Volkswagen said its net liquidity rose to 24.8 billion euros from 18.7 billion at the end of the second quarter. Excluding one-time items, third-quarter operating profit was 3.2 billion euros ($3.8 billion), down from 4.8 billion euros a year earlier, but up from a second quarter loss of 1.7 billion. In a note to clients, Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois described the results as a "solid performance with strong cash, but relatively muted in the context of the (auto) sector recovery." Last week, German rival Daimler reported a record 24% jump in Chinese demand for its Mercedes-Benz cars, boosting its margins in the third quarter. Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot manufacturer PSA Group both also posted solid results this week. Witter said Volkswagen could not say for sure whether it would meet EU CO2 emissions targets this year, adding "it will be a tough race." At 1030 GMT, Volkswagen shares were up 2.9% at 129.20 euros. Related Video: Earnings/Financials Audi Bentley Bugatti Lamborghini Porsche Volkswagen

Watch this Lamborghini Gallardo get hooned like a WRC car

Driving your million-dollar supercar or ultra-lux limousine carefully and pridefully on to the well-manicured lawns of a fancy concurs d'elegance is what your old man did, square. Driving your exotic through mud and filth, with fast sideways bits and loads of counter steering is what all the hip kids are up to these days.
Having already experienced the puerile joys of seeing a Rolls-Royce turf a lawn and a Ferrari Enzo slide around the farm, we can now enjoy this Lamborghini Gallardo in the mud and ruts. The video below shows about exactly what you'd expect from WRC-themed title, except for lacking in big air and, you know, really good, fast driving. Still, there's mud. Check it out below.

A new Lamborghini Countach is coming soon

Update: We received a tip in email that somebody posted an image online from Lamborghini's customer-only app, Lamborghini Unica. It reveals a teaser image of the Countach LPI 800-4 not previously made available to the public. The Instagram post also reveals that the Countach will be revealed during Monterey Car Week on August 15. The "LPI" moniker is the giveaway that this car will be a hybrid, as Lamborghini has used that term on the hybrid Asterion LPI 910-4 Concept. We also expect it to make 800 PS, which is about 789 horsepower. The "4" refers to it being all-wheel drive. You can check out the Instagram post and teaser photo below. It reveals the vents mounted on the side window and the vented intake behind it. Below this, we see what appears to be a gas cap. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The original post continues below. Lamborghini just announced that a new Countach is coming. Let us repeat. Lamborghini just announced that a new Countach is coming! OK. Let that soak in for a few seconds, or minutes, however long it takes. We’re a bit shocked over here, too. ThereÂ’s one teaser image to go off of, and Lamborghini hasnÂ’t let loose any details beyond giving us the name. You can see the car under a car cover and shrouded by haze in the photo above. However, thereÂ’s a video thatÂ’s been posted to Twitter that you can watch below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. We get some great engine noises, and the new Countach appears to be parked a long way away from the camera at the end of the video. It appears to be painted white, but thatÂ’s all we can tell about it from that distance. ThereÂ’s no doubt that Lamborghini is leaning heavily into nostalgic feelings, as you see original Countach posters pinned up to a kidÂ’s room in the video. Lamborghini seems intent on recapturing that wild, exotic magic that the old Countach brought to the supercar landscape. It's tough to say what the styling will be like besides being a wedge like most Lambos. It could be a very retro design, sort of like the Miura concept from over a decade ago. It could also be a thoroughly modern Lamborghini design that happens to have a classic nameplate attached. For what it's worth, Lamborghini's design boss seemed to be against anything overtly retro as of a few years ago.