06.05.2002 LAMBORGHINI UPDATE

Currently heading towards its expected launch later this year, the Ferrari 360 Modena rivalling "Baby Lambo" is still clouded in secrecy, with no impressions or prototypes caught testing yet.

Some detail is known, the car is brand new, Lamborghini's first foray into the mid-size supercar market for two decades, started with a clean sheet of paper after Audi jettisoned all future planning that had been undertaken up to the point of their purchasing the marque in 1998. Lamborghini have said that the car which goes head on with the 360 Modena will have "significantly" better performance than the Ferrari.

The chassis comprises of an aluminium spaceframe covered in aluminium bodywork, using new manufacturing techniques brought in by Audi. Technical detail of the car, codenamed L140 is sketchy, but an all new 48 valve, V10 "in excess" of 4-litres and producing over 400 bhp has been developed by Lamborghini with the assistance of Audi's R&D facilities which include the renowned Cosworth Engineering branch.

The L140 is, like the recent Murcielargo, expected to be offered in 4wd format only, with the option of manual 6-speed gearbox or a sequential F1-style alternative. It is expected that this will be the Magnetti Marelli "Selespeed" system, already in production use with Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Mercedes-Benz.

The L140 is tipped to have been designed by Italdesign who won a competition comprising of three Italian design houses and Audi's own design department, all who submitted scale models to Lamborghini's owners, Audi.

It is hoped that once on stream, probably in late 2003, that the L140 will see production of around 1,500 units a year, rising to a capacity of  2,000 units in 2005. This added to the expected 450 Murcielargo's this year, contrasts with Lamborghini's recent production of 231 cars in 1998, 265 in 1999 and 296 in 2000.

To build the L140 in the numbers that Lamborghini plans, the lucrative US market, so long a failure for Lamborghini must be cracked. Unlike Ferrari who have recently pushes US sales to over the 1,000 mark per year, Lamborghini sold just 32 cars in the US in 2000. With around 40% of Murcielargo's earmarked for the US market and a "significant" number of L140's , Audi have set their new company high targets.

Lamborghini have started by headhunting several key Ferrari technical personnel in North America, to their Boston based technical centre, and with VW/Audi's reputation for worldwide successful market penetrations, North American Ferrari dealers expect to be pressurised by the new models coming from Lamborghini.

It is hoped that around 20 dealerships will be recruited accross North America.

Significant work has recently been undertaken at Lamborghini's Sant'Agata headquarters, including, new reception area and aftersales facility, a new 1,400m² ground floor museum, an increase in the R&D department, including a doubling of staff numbers to around 160, and a new purpose built workshop to handle the restoration of older Lamborghini's.