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Lamborghini chief stands by V12s

Despite the push for fuel efficiency and low carbon emissions, the V12 is still a staple of high performance. Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, and yes, Lamborghini maintain fleets of these monstrous dinosaur engines. And for the final entry on that list, that's not going to change. Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali sat down with Autocar and explained in no uncertain terms that his company will continue to offer V12s for the time being. "Our major customers and dealers around the world say: 'Please do not touch the V12'," Domenicali told Autocar. "So we will continue to work in that direction." But there's more than just customer demand driving Lambo's V12 loyalty. According to Domenicali, the company's niche is small enough to weather V12-ruining storms. "In the short term, there is still a lot of development potential in the V12," Domenicali told Autocar. "Of course, we need to understand what the market is doing in terms of emissions and legislation, but I don't see that will be a problem. We are always very open to how the market might evolve." That evolution, lately, has tended toward electrification. The flagship of Lambo's arch-nemesis Ferrari pairs a 12-cylinder engine with a hybrid system for blistering performance. Then there's the stuff happening with the V8-powered Porsche 918 Spyder and McLaren P1. These three hybrids are in an entirely different and more potent performance (and price) class than Lamborghini's hottest model, the Aventador LP750-4 SV. Hybrids are the future of performance, for Lamborghini included... Eventually. "We cannot be disconnected to the world of the future but we want to be balanced," Domenicali said. "We need to make sure that as soon as the technology of electrification is relevant to our car at a cost level, and will add value, we are flexible to shift in that direction." Finally, Domenicali addressed advanced connectivity systems while parrying Autocar's question about autonomous vehicles. "If you own a Lamborghini, you want to have the passion of driving it and we need to keep that. But new technology could have some relevance to the driver. For example, if you are on a race track, you could have a head-up display which shows you how to maximize your performance [around a corner], using the telemetry we have now," Domenicali told AC. "That's an approach where I see that technology could be very useful for our customer." Related Video:

Rare U.S.-spec 1990 Lamborghini LM002 fetches $467,000 at auction

A rare "Rambo Lambo," an American-spec 1990 LM002 that was Lamborghini's first SUV and arguably the first high-performance sport utility, has sold at auction in New York for $467,000. RM Sotheby's says the luxury ute, which has 19,153 miles on the odometer, underwent a comprehensive five-year mechanical and cosmetic restoration and was originally priced at $158,000 when it arrived in the U.S. through a Florida port of entry. The auction sale price is more than twice the cost of the new Urus, the sleek new crossover that Lamborghini unveiled earlier this week. The LM002 traces its lineage to the Cheetah, a rear-engine-mounted 4x4 that Lamborghini made with an American defense contractor for the U.S. Army, which did not reward the automaker with a contract. It was Lamborghini's first production SUV, based on the Cheetah's basic engineering, and it added luxurious wood and leather to the interior, a spacious cargo area and the 5.2-liter Countach V12 engine that took it from 0-60 in 7.7 seconds. Only 301 examples were ever made between 1986 and 1993, with just 48 of them built to the LM/American specs and delivered to the U.S. Sotheby's notes that the exotic car market of the early '90s "was in full flourish thanks to a new generation of millionaires and billionaires seeking the ever-greater 'toy' — and nothing was bigger or better than the LM002." It boasts a massive 76-gallon fuel tank, and the model that just sold was equipped with specially designed Pirelli Scorpion run-flat tires. Jay Leno took an LM002 of the same model year for a spin two years ago on an episode of "Jay Leno's Garage." The restoration effort was valued at $325,000 and covered the Countach engine, new exhaust and a full, new interior, adding an Alpine stereo head unit and integrated Bluetooth to bring things up to modern speed. It also features the rare rear cargo toolbox, tonneau cover, and correct LM/American floor mats and chrome bumpers. The owner also got correct tools, keys, books, jack, full receipts and photographic documentation of the restoration process, plus two OEM ECU computer units.Related Video:

Audi: record profit as 'biggest product initiative' in its history gets underway

Audi Group CEO Markus Duesmann   Even as the Audi Group (VOW.DE), VW’s luxury division, is in the midst of a huge EV transformation it still needs to perform where it counts — the bottom line. And so it is doing just that.  On Thursday the Audi Group - which is dominated volume-wise by Audi, but also includes Bentley, Lamborghini, and Ducati - posted record revenue and operating profit in 2022. That shouldnÂ’t be a surprise given what the industry has been seeing at the highest end of the market - record performances despite macroeconomic jitters across the globe. But that it's happening as the group is noteworthy.  “We are on the verge of the biggest product initiative in our history,” Audi Group CEO Markus Duesmann said at a news conference earlier on Thursday. “By 2025, we will have launched around 20 new models, more than 10 of which will be all-electric. We have set the course to go 100% electric. By 2027, we seek to offer an all-electric vehicle in each core segment.”   This is all part of Audi GroupÂ’s Vorsprung 2030 plan, which seeks to have all of the groupÂ’s new models be electric by 2026 — and to end traditional gas-powered engine production by 2033. To that end, the group saw EV deliveries jump 44% (in 2022) compared to 2021 to over 118,000 vehicles, with the share of EVs rising to 7.2% from 4.8% in the prior year. Audi is also launching its first EV using the PPE (premium platform electric), which was developed together with Porsche. That EV, the Audi Q6 e-tron, will be unveiled later this year. (Past Audi EVs shared corporate parent VWÂ’s electric platform.) “With the Audi Q6 e-tron, e-mobility is coming from Ingolstadt (Audi HQ) for the first time,” Duesmann said in a statement. “To this end, weÂ’re also building a dedicated battery assembly facility on site. This will enable us to retain important know-how here in Germany and train our employees in future fields.” AudiÂ’s German rivals of course are also leaning in hard on their EV transformations. That makes it all the more important that Audi get its EV strategy right—and launched in a timely manner.