2013 Lamborghini Gallardo Lp560-2 50th Anniversario on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Audi CEO says brand's EVs are almost as profitable as its other cars

After, oh, a hundred years or so of building vehicles primarily powered by internal combustion engines, automakers around the world have been and still are pumping billions of dollars into the development of electric vehicle technology. Everything from platforms and batteries to motors and the software to control it all requires untold hours of development, and that takes time and money. Fortunately, it's not going to take long for that massive investment to start paying off, at least according to Audi CEO Markus Duesmann, who told Reuters in an interview that "The point where we earn as much money with electric cars as with combustion engine cars is now, or ... next year, 2023. They are very even now, the prices." As a brand, Audi contributed more than a quarter of overall profit for the massive Volkswagen Group, which has such powerhouse brands as Volkswagen and Porsche among others. Under the Audi umbrella are Lamborghini, Bentley and Ducati, and it seems those high-end branches aren't going anywhere, at least for now. "These brands ... are very valuable very profitable brands, where we can even expand the synergy level in the future," Duesmann said in the interview. "There are no plans whatsoever to get rid of them." Despite the overall profitability of the brand, the ongoing global chip crisis is causing headaches. "We had a very strong first half in 2021. We do expect a much weaker second half," said Duesmann, who added, "We really have trouble." In fact, so serious is the trouble that the brand is forced into "a day-to-day troubleshooting process" to limit the chip-shortage damage. The good news for the automaker is that Audi has been able to boost its profit margin from 8% prior to the pandemic in 2019 to 10.7% in the first half of 2021. The bad news is that various chip shortages aren't expected to get a whole lot better over the rest of the year. Related video:

Ken Okuyama's Kode 0 brings classic '70s design to the Quail

Ken Okuyama designed this, the Kode 0, to invoke memories of such classic '70s supercar designs as the Lancia Stratos Zero, Lamborghini Countach and Ferrari Moduro. But its retro-futuristic looks are only skin deep. The Kode 0 sits atop the guts of a current Lamborghini Aventador, including its naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine. Due to its full carbon fiber bodywork, the Kode 0 weighs just 3,417 pounds. That's more than 600 pounds lighter than the Aventador upon which it's based. With 690 horsepower and 507 pound-feet of torque, the Kode 0 can hit 60 miles per hour in just 2.9 seconds. The Kode 0's dramatic wedge-shaped design is inspired by the works of Marcello Gandini and flows seamlessly from front to rear. Its almost impossibly short rear overhang and slanted roofline draw the eye toward the acute crease that makes up the rear portion of the passenger compartment. It's certainly striking, especially when the doors open to reveal bright green highlights hiding behind the bodywork. The Kode 0 is radically different but equally as stunning as the Kode 57 that Okuyama unveiled at the Quail last year. See for yourself in our high-res image gallery above. Related Video: Featured Gallery Ken Okuyama Cars Kode 0 View 11 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2017 Drew Phillips / Autoblog.com Design/Style Lamborghini Coupe Luxury Performance Supercars Pebble Beach

Uber adds supercar rides in Singapore

Order a ride through Uber and you'll have a choice between what kind of car you want or need: Uber Black for standard fare, Uber X for the lowest cost available, Uber Taxi to order a regular cab, Uber SUV if you need to move more people or even Uber Lux if you want a luxury town car service. But customers in Singapore now have another option: to be picked up in a Lamborghini or Maserati. The pilot program launched in collaboration with Dream Drive will allow customers to be picked up in either a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder or a Maserati GranTurismo to get around the Southeast Asian city-state. Ordering up the Maser will set customers back 165 Singapore Dollars (equivalent of $120 USD) for the first 15 minutes and 7 SGD ($5.10) for every subsequent minute. The Lambo gets the same per-minute rate but begs a higher 200 SGD ($146) base rate. Uber and Dream Drive were even offering free rides over the weekend to launch the initiative. Those prices make riding around in an Italian exotic pretty pricey, especially since you don't actually get to drive them – just ride shotgun. But then cars are quite expensive to begin with in Singapore, where it costs over half a million in US dollars to get a new Maserati in the first place. News Source: Uber via GTspirit.com Green Lamborghini Maserati Supercars Uber singapore