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Shuffle at Lamborghini sends CEO to Quattro GmbH

A management shakeup in Volkswagen Group's high-performance divisions will make Stephan Winkelmann (above) the new chief executive of Audi's Quattro GmbH on March 15. On the same day, former Scuderia Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali will replace Winkelmann as Lambo's boss. These changes are necessary because current Quattro chief Heinz Hollerweger is retiring. Rumors of these exact shifts cropped up in Italian media in December. Winkelmann began leading Lamborghini in 2005, and he has been at the helm for massive growth at the company. In 2015, the Italian supercar maker delivered a record 3,245 vehicles, and it had just set its previous best of 2,530 units in 2014. His new role at Quattro GmbH puts Winkelmann in charge of Audi's equivalent to M at BMW or AMG at Mercedes-Benz. The division is responsible for the Four Rings' R and RS production models, the Audi Sport customer racing program, and Audi Exclusive customization service. "In the future, the Audi Sport brand is to be positioned more clearly," the company's announcement said, which hints at one of Winkelmann's duties. Domenicali has been closely associated with Lamborghini rival Ferrari during his career and had years of experience within the automaker's racing team. He started in financing at the Prancing Horse in 1991 and moved to business planning for the Scuderia Ferrari F1 squad in 1993. He held many positions there and eventually ascended to the top as team principal in 2008. Domenicali resigned from leadership in 2014 because of the team's poor performance, but Audi quickly snapped him up as its as Vice President New Business. He now gets the reins of one of Italy's premiere supercar makers. Related Video: Stephan Winkelmann to be new CEO of quattro GmbH As of March 15, 2016, Stephan Winkelmann (51) will be the new CEO of quattro GmbH, a 100 percent subsidiary of AUDI AG, which produces and distributes the high performance R and RS models. Winkelmann was President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. since January 1, 2005. Heinz Hollerweger (62), the current Head of quattro GmbH, is to retire after almost 40 years of successful work for Audi. "With his experience from more than eleven years in charge of Lamborghini, Stephan Winkelmann will be a key contributor to the further growth of quattro GmbH," says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG.

2023 Lamborghini Urus Performante revealed: less weight, more power

The name and design of the Pikes Peak record-setting Lamborghini Urus have finally been revealed. The 2023 Lamborghini Urus Performante is the new range-topper featuring aerodynamic improvements, lighter weight, new suspension and a dash of extra power for good measure. Together, the improvements make it the best performing Urus yet. The design changes are subtle, but noticeable, which is ironic for what's arguably the least subtle SUV on the market. The front bumper, hood and rear bumper have all been redesigned and feature more carbon fiber. The hood has an air extractor, too. A new front splitter and a rear wing have been added. The fenders have been widened, too to accommodate wider wheels and tires. Overall, downforce has been increased by 8%, and though no number was given, Lamborghini says drag has actually been decreased. Lamborghini also made some  Weight has been decreased by a sizable 104 pounds in total. The increased use of carbon fiber parts is part of that equation, and another part is the standard Akrapovic titanium exhaust system. The Urus Performante drops the standard SUV's air suspension for fixed steel springs that have a stiffer spring rate and lower the SUV. It still has electronically adjustable shocks, four-wheel steering, rear torque vectoring and multiple drive modes. Tuning on all of these have been updated for the Performante, and a Rally mode has been added for tail-happy dirt driving. Horsepower from the twin-turbo V8 is slightly increased, as well, to 657 horsepower (or a hellacious 666 CV in European units) and 627 pound-feet of torque. All of these changes allow the Urus Performante to get to 62 mph in 3.3 seconds, an improvement of 0.3 over the regular model. Its top speed remains at 190 mph. So it's slightly slower to 60 mph than a Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT, but has a higher top speed. And of course, it holds the Pikes Peak record for a production SUV at 10 minutes 32.064 seconds. The previous record holder was the Bentley Bentayga Speed with a 10-minute 49.902-second time. Lamborghini will begin delivering Urus Performantes by the end of the year. Pricing without destination starts at $260,676. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

The mood at this year’s Paris Motor Show: Quiet

The Paris Motor Show, held every other year in the early fall, typically kicks off the annual cavalcade of automotive conclaves, one that traverses the globe between autumn and spring, introducing projective, conceptual and production-ready vehicle models to the international automotive press, automotive aficionados and a public hungry for news of our increasingly futuristic mobility enterprise. But this year, at the press preview days for the show, the grounds of the Porte de Versailles convention center felt a bit more sparsely populated than usual. This was not simply a subjective sensation, or one influenced by the center's atypically dispersed assemblage of seven discrete buildings, which tends to spread out the cars and the crowds. There were not only fewer new vehicles being premiered in Paris this year, there were fewer manufacturers there to display them. Major mainstream European OEM stalwarts such as Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Nissan and Volkswagen chose to sit out Paris this year, as did boutique manufacturers like Bentley, Aston Martin and Lamborghini. This is not simply based in some antipathy on the part of the German, British and Italian manufacturers toward the French market — though for a variety of historical and societal reasons that market may be more dominated by vehicles produced domestically than others. Rather, it is part of a larger trend in the industry. Last year, Mercedes-Benz announced that it would not be participating in the flagship North American International Auto Show in 2019 — and that it might not return. Other brands including Jaguar/Land Rover, Audi, Porsche, Mazda and nearly every exotic carmaker have also departed the Detroit show. Some of these brands will still appear in the city in which the show is taking place, and host an event offsite, to capitalize on the presence of a large number of reporters in attendance. And even brands that do have a presence at the show have shifted their vehicle introductions to the days before the official press opening in an attempt to stand out from the crowd. In many ways, this makes sense. With an expanding number of automakers, with diversification and niche-ification of models and with wholesale shifts that necessitate the introduction of EV or autonomous sub-brands, there is a growing sense that, with everyone shouting at the same time, no one can be heard.