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Lamborghini has been developing an IPO strategy 'for a long time'

Porsche AG isn’t the only Volkswagen AG brand that has been quietly preparing for a potential initial public offering. Italian luxury-car maker Lamborghini has been developing a strategy how to present itself to stock-market investors since well before Volkswagen asked each of its brands to come up with virtual equity stories, according to the unitÂ’s Chief Executive Officer Stephan Winkelmann. “WeÂ’ve been working on this with other agencies in order to create clarity,” Winkelmann said. “As a brand, weÂ’ve done so for a long time, to show what worth, what value we have. Up until a little while ago, it wasnÂ’t so well known.” Porsche became EuropeÂ’s most valuable automaker last month, when its market capitalization overtook that of VW a week after its IPO in Frankfurt. The debut of the 911 maker was a bold move into public markets, which have been largely shut for most of the year. VW CEO Oliver Blume has said he sees the listing as a blueprint to unlock more value from the groupÂ’s brands that also include Audi and Bentley. “An IPO drill is exactly what you do to show the public how solid you are and what is in progress for the future,” Winkelmann said. “We have a clear story and strategy for that.” Audi, which oversees VWÂ’s premium brands, said last month there are no concrete plans for an IPO of Lamborghini. A previous push to potentially spin off the carmaker and motorcycle brand Ducati ran into opposition from labor leaders. Still, LamborghiniÂ’s recent profit gains -- including a 31.9% operating margin in the first half of this year -- make a solid case for a stock-market listing, said Michael Dean, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “An IPO is something that could potentially happen in the next 18 months, depending on market conditions,” Dean said. “A ˆ15 billion valuation is entirely justifiable and could be even higher, given the margin metrics.” LamborghiniÂ’s deliveries rose 8% to 7,430 vehicles in the first nine months of the year. Operating profit climbed 69% to ˆ570 million ($567 million). Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Lamborghini teases Huracan Sterrato tackling terrain

Bentley considering diesel engine for new SUV

Turns out, in case you didn't know, the rich are just like regular people. They too are concerned about the environment, even when tooling around town in their super-luxurious Bentleys. So the automaker is weighing the idea of offering a diesel engine in its SUV offering, which could help satisfy customers' demands for more fuel-efficient engines.
Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Schreiber told Autoblog in a roundtable interview at the Geneva Auto Show that the automaker is researching whether or not a diesel engine makes sense for the brand. Bentley, owned by the Volkswagen Group, could in theory use a diesel engine from anywhere in the Volkswagen Group family. We at Autoblog have hopes they'll revive the V10 TDI used in the VW Touareg until 2010, but ever-stricter emissions laws would likely make that problematic.
But rich people aren't so much like us that they'll be worried about petty things like pricing. Schreiber admitted the diesel engine could be a $15,000 option, which he said customers would probably find "acceptable." Given that the cheapest Bentley today starts at $177,000, typical customers probably won't be diddling around worrying about an extra 15 grand.

Audi diverting a third of R&D budget to electrification

Companies make promises all the time. We'll do X by Y. The new A will be our biggest seller in B. You know the drill. But it's when an automaker puts its money where its mouth is that we really stand up and take notice. That's precisely what Audi is doing as it attempts to convert 25 percent of its sales to electrified vehicles by 2025. Citing two sources with knowledge of Audi's plans, Reuters reports that around a third of the company's research-and-development budget will go to " electric cars, digital services, and autonomous driving." Of course, shifting that much money over to newer technologies means sacrifices elsewhere – Reuters' sources claim Audi will move money away from combustion engines and reduce country-specific powertrain variants, but the sources wouldn't get more specific. According to Reuters, Audi is 22nd in total sales of hybrids and EVs. That's eight spots behind Mercedes and ten spots behind BMW (not to mention hybrid-happy Lexus). Audi's only electric representatives in the US market are the A3 e-Tron and Q5 Hybrid and things aren't much better in Europe – the company needs to dump buckets of money into expanding its meager lineup to bring up the percentage of EVs it sells. Expect greater detail on Audi's electrification plans very soon – CEO Rupert Stadler will discuss the company's path forward on Wednesday at a closed-door meeting in Munich with over 2,000 managers. It's unlikely all those managers will be able to keep quiet. We'll be listening. Related Video: Featured Gallery Audi E-Tron Quattro Concept View 36 Photos News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Audi Green Audi Volkswagen Green Driving Electric Hybrid PHEV e-tron audi e-tron electrification