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Lamborghini and Bentley may hold off on SUVs so VW can conserve cash

After surveying the European economic scene, Volkswagen may have decided now is not the time to launch utility vehicles with Bentley and Lamborghini badges. Bentley officials say they will continue to push for support for the EXP 9 F and Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelman has said planning for the Urus will continue until VW tells it to stop.
That decision could come on November 23, when VW's board will vote on the company's budget for equipment, factories and vehicles. With VW's sales slowing and the Euro economy slumping further, some industry watchers say the company is more likely to build its cash reserves than to introduce super-expensive luxury SUVs or crossovers.
"Such vehicles are anything but obligatory during a crisis," says Frankfurt-based Equinet AG analyst Tim Schuldt in a new Automotive News Europe story. "Delaying their launch would be no drama but help save costs."

Italian cops get a Lamborghini to haul some precious cargo

Three years ago, we told you about Lamborghini's gift to law and order: a Huracan LP 610-4 that was donated to the Italian State Police. That car went into service near Rome in 2015, replacing a Gallardo they'd been using previously. Now, a second Huracan has just been delivered for service in the region around Bologna. Law enforcement may be done a bit differently in the country that convicted, acquitted, re-convicted and re-acquitted Amanda Knox. But why would a police agency need a $200,000, 610-horsepower supercar? Firstly, no one in their right mind turns down a free Lamborghini. Second, it's a display of national pride, decked out, to quote the press release, in "the official colors of the Italian Police (Police Medium Blue), with the white areas and lettering specially executed to match the Huracan's dynamic look. The livery is completed by a stripe divided into the three colors of the Italian flag, which runs along both sides of the vehicle. As is true for all Lamborghini cars, the Huracan Polizia is equipped with P Zero Pirelli tires, but their sidewalls are tinted in Police Medium Blue and were specially created for the occasion." And third, they actually did dream up a role that suits its capabilities. In addition to the usual cop-car complement of police radio, tablet computer, gun holster, fire extinguisher and hand-held sign for directing traffic, the Lambo has been designated for medical responses and, like many police cars in the States, carries a defibrillator for medical emergencies. More to the point, its front trunk is equipped with a special refrigeration system for transporting human organs for transplant. The authorities describe two cases in 2016 in which a series of transplants had donor organs busily crisscrossing the Lombardy and Tuscany regions to various recipients – a situation in which speed is of the essence. Between organ transplants, presumably the car's primary duty will be to look good, serving as an ambassador of goodwill for both the Polizia as well as Lamborghini. Related Video:

World's most expensive model car will be wrapped in thin gold sheet [w/video]

A couple of years ago, we featured a car that had a body made out of carbon fiber and an interior and wheels fashioned from gold and platinum and lined with diamonds. The price for that supercar, based on the Lamborghini Aventador, was a staggering $4.7 million. The hook: it was a 1/8-scale model! The man behind that model, Robert Gülpen, is at it again, and will offer for sale at an auction house another baby Aventador, but this one is wrapped in gold and will command a price of at least $7.5 million - making it the most-expensive model car in the world. Compare the model's price with that of the real thing - $397,500 - which means you could have 18 real Aventador coupes (!) for the price of the gold-wrapped model.
The car's details are even more impressive than the last model Gülpen produced, starting with the gold wrap. After baking the carbon-fiber model at a high temperature and under pressure, the body is wrapped in a gold sheet that's 1/1,000-mm thin. The resultant effect allows one to admire the gold hue, but the wrap is so thin that the carbon-fiber weave is plainly visible. The interior is lined with high-carat gemstones and the wheels are cast in gold and platinum, just like the last model. The doors open and close, the wheels turn and, while the engine looks like a smaller version of the V12 found in the full-size car, it does not function.
The materials used in the build are valued at $2.6 million, so what the buyer is paying for is the work behind putting the model together. The car will be mounted inside a bulletproof showcase with a Lamborghini logo made of gold, platinum and gemstones, among other goodies that are included for one well-heeled buyer.