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Lamborghini will enter the Urus in off-road competition

Lamborghini still has several months until it starts shipping its new 189.5-mph Urus SUV to customers, but the brand is already thinking about proving its mettle by entering the luxury ute in an unspecified all-roads competition. It also plans to use the Bentley Bentayga, a key competitor in the rarified $200,000 SUV segment, as a benchmark when that vehicle takes on the Pike's Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado in June, even though it denies it will outright follow its Volkswagen Group stablemate into the competition. Bentley just hired two-time Pikes Peak winner Rhys Millen for that endeavor. "Lamborghini welcomes challenges, but whatever we do will be quite different from other brands," CEO Stefano Domenicali was quoted as saying by Autocar. "We will choose a form of competition intended only for our class of vehicle. Our car has many faces. You can enjoy its beauty, it is very fast on the track, very fast off-road and very fast on gravel. We will choose something that combines all of these things." The Urus is powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that generates 641 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. It's mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission that drives all four wheels and goes from 0-62 mph in 3.6 seconds. It boasts low-down torque for off-road benefit, plus Terra (off-road) and Sabbia (sand) driving modes, which raise the air suspension for added ground clearance. By way of comparison, the Bentayga that Bentley will race up Pike's Peak features a 6.0-liter W12 making 600 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque and taking the SUV from 0-60 in 4 seconds. Domenicali recently told CNBC that the $200,000 luxury ute has been a hit with Bitcoin investors (of course) and buyers in Russia and India, and could account for more than a fifth of the brand's projected sales of 5,000 vehicles in 2018. Lamborghini expects to double production in its newly remodeled Sant'Agata Bolognese factory by next year. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Volkswagen Group's Vision 2030 strategy could bring revolution to the brands

One would expect a corporate plan called "Vision 2030," looking 11 years ahead through wildly tumultuous times, to involve great change and numerous forks in numerous roads. According to Automobile's breakdown of Volkswagen's path forward, though, the plans contain some lurid potential surprises. The ultimate aim is return on investment, and that means ruthless reorganization of a conglomerate with eight primary car brands, two car sub-brands, and Ducati motorcycles. The first two Vision 2030 cornerstones Automobile mentions are near boilerplate: Production network restructuring, and "streamlining of key technologies." The latter two are the ones that could upend what we know as the Volkswagen Group: focusing on the Group's core brands — meaning Audi, Porsche, and VW — and transitioning to EVs, autonomy, and other mobility solutions. Based on the report, a quote from Audi's CTO referring to the Audi brand could cover how the Group plans to handle all of its brands: "We need to find a sustainable solution for the indefinite transition period until EVs eventually take over." The boutique divisions adjacent to carmaking, Ducati and Italdesign, look likely to be spun off. For the halo car brands — Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini — apparently shareholders want double-digit returns on investment, and the trio doesn't have long to hit the target. One eyebrow raiser is when the report states, "Bugatti is tipped to be gifted to [ex-VW Group Chairman] Ferdinand Piech." Piech fathered the Veyron during his tenure at VW, and it was thought he commissioned the La Voiture Noire, but he's lately stepped so far back from VW that he sold all his shares in the Group. Automobile quoted a senior strategist as saying of money-losing Bentley, "Why invest on a backward-looking enterprise when you can support a trendsetter? A proud history and excellent craftmanship alone don't cut it anymore." We guess no one at Ferrari, McLaren, or even Porsche got that memo. Bentley is reportedly close to being put in time out, and if brand CEO Adrian Hallmark can't right the Crewe ship, the hush-hush Plan B is to prop the Flying B up enough to lure a buyer. As for Lamborghini, caught between two masters at Audi and Porsche, even record-breaking numbers at the Italian supercar maker barely staved off sacrilege. It's said that VW brand CEO Herbert Diess considered putting a 5.0-liter Porsche V8 into the Aventador successor.

Donald Trump's Lamborghini Diablo is up for sale

Back in Donald Trump's booming heyday, a car couldn't get much flashier, much more outlandish, much more... Trump than a Lamborghini Diablo. Turns out he actually owned one – a 1997 Lamborghini Diablo VT roadster, to be specific, like the one pictured above. And now it's up for sale. This VT roadster is one of just 200 or so that were made before the 1999 facelift. It featured the Viscous Traction (viscous-fluid coupling) all-wheel drive system that debuted on the Diablo VT, and the carbon-fiber roof panel could be removed and stowed over the engine cover. Short of the Ferrari 575M Superamerica with the Fioravanti-designed flip-top, we could hardly imagine a more fitting set of wheels for the mogul. Bear in mind that the Diablo was developed when the company was owned by Chrysler – which would not, of course, prove the last time Chrysler would be in bed with an Italian automaker. This one was built after the brand was sold to a Malaysian company (before it was absorbed into the Volkswagen Group). And in those days, Lamborghini was closely allied with US-based supercar manufacturer Vector Motors. The Diablo was about as American as an Italian supercar could be. Trump's is finished in French Racing Blue and appears to be in pristine condition. It's now been adorned with Trump stickers, seemingly well-documented as having belonged to Trump himself, and formerly registered in Palm Beach, FL. It's being sold by one Michael Digonis in New York via The Drive, who is asking $299,000 for it. That is a lot, but considering the celebrity provenance it could prove a sound investment – especially if Trump wins the Republican nomination and the general election next year. Related Video: