Lamborghini is owned by AUDI AG: Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. is one of Audi’s wholly owned subsidiaries, and Audi in turn belongs to the Volkswagen Group. Ferruccio Lamborghini founded the company in Sant’Agata Bolognese on 7 May 1963; after several owners, including Chrysler from 1987 and the Indonesian fund Megatech from 1994, it became part of the Audi-Volkswagen Group in 1998. At the top of the chain, Porsche Automobil Holding SE held 53.3% of Volkswagen AG’s voting rights as at 31 December 2025.
Who owns it
What changed in 2025-26
Lamborghini delivered 10,747 cars in 2025 and reported revenue of โฌ3.20 billion, up 3.3%, with operating income of โฌ768 million and a 24% margin. The company said US tariffs and exchange rates weighed on profit.
The 2025 results cite extraordinary items from adapting the Direzione Cor Tauri electrification strategy, and a fourth hybrid model was announced. Lamborghini says it is not giving up on a future fully electric model, but no date is set in that release.
Revuelto, Urus SE and Temerario made the 2025 range fully hybrid. Temerario, which replaced the Huracรกn, began customer deliveries in the first months of 2026.
Lamborghini says 94% of the cars delivered in 2025 were personalised in at least one element through its Ad Personam programme, which it calls a key factor in record revenue. As we read it, software-driven configuration is where the brand’s AI-era gains are most likely to show first.
Lamborghini inside the Audi Group
What it means for you
- To invest in Lamborghini, look at Volkswagen AG shares: Lamborghini itself is not listed.
- Read Volkswagen's preferred shares as non-voting; control sits with the ordinary shares Porsche SE dominates.
- Track Lamborghini's results inside Audi's and Volkswagen's reports, where its deliveries and margin are disclosed.
- Watch the hybrid-versus-electric choice: a slower electric timeline changes the group's spending, not who owns the brand.
- If you sell to luxury buyers, note how much value comes from personalisation rather than volume.
Lamborghini shows how a large group keeps a scarce brand valuable: tiny volumes, high margins and shared engineering underneath. The Business Engineer’s view is that in the AI era the shared layer (software, batteries, data) matters more, while the brand layer must stay deliberately small.
Read: luxury empires โExplore the platform โRelated: Who owns Volkswagen ยท Who owns Audi ยท Who owns Bentley ยท Who owns Porsche ยท Who owns Ferrari
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Lamborghini now?
AUDI AG owns 100% of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., and Audi is part of the Volkswagen Group.
When did Audi buy Lamborghini?
In 1998, when Lamborghini became part of the Audi-Volkswagen Group, according to Lamborghini's own history.
Does the Porsche family control Lamborghini?
Indirectly, through Volkswagen: Porsche Automobil Holding SE held 53.3% of Volkswagen AG's voting rights as at 31 December 2025.
Is Lamborghini a public company?
No. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Audi; investors get exposure through Volkswagen AG shares.
Sources
- Audi (2026), Automobili Lamborghini consolidates growth in 2025 with best-ever results, Audi Media Center
- Audi, Production sites (wholly owned subsidiaries of AUDI AG)
- Volkswagen Group, Shareholder structure (as at 31 December 2025)
- Volkswagen Group (2026), Annual Report 2025, Brand groups and business fields
- Automobili Lamborghini, History: milestones
The full guide
The complete explainer, cleaned up and reformatted for mobile.
| Shareholder | Stake | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Porsche SE | 53.3% | Insider |
| Lower Saxony (State) | 20.0% | Institution |
| Qatar Investment Authority | 17.0% | Institution |
| Institutional Investors | 9.7% | Institution |
Lamborghini Ownership in 2026: What Changed
Audi continues to own Lamborghini in 2026, maintaining full control since the 1998 acquisition.
Lamborghini is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer founded in 1963 by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini. Since that time, ownership of the firm has changed several times. Another financial crisis in the late 1990s saw Lamborghini sold to Volkswagen through its subsidiary Audi AG. The subsidiary remains the owner of Lamborghini today. And it’s part of the Volkswagen Group.
Lamborghini is owned by Audi AG, which acquired the Italian luxury sports car manufacturer in 1998. Audi, a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, purchased Lamborghini from Mycom Setdco and Indonesian company V'Power Corporation for approximately $110 million, maintaining Lamborghini as a distinct premium brand within the Volkswagen Group portfolio.
Additional Ownership Details
- Volkswagen Group Structure: Lamborghini is managed as part of Audi AG, which is one of the brands under the Volkswagen Group umbrella. This structure allows Lamborghini to benefit from the extensive resources, research, and development capabilities of the larger group.
- Brand Positioning: Lamborghini maintains its unique brand identity and design philosophy, focusing on high-performance luxury sports cars and SUVs.
Ferrari vs. Lamborghini
As the story goes, Ferruccio Lamborghini was the owner of a tractor factory that he run. We’re in between the 1950s-60s in the Northern part of Italy, the heart of the production district.
A strip of land with hundreds of small and medium businesses.
He also was the proud owner of two Ferraris.
Yet each time he drove them the clutches would fall apart. So Ferruccio tweaked them with a clutch from his tractors and it worked wonderfully!
Yet as Ferruccio Lamborghini passed along the feedback to the legendary Enzo Ferrari, the owner, and founder of the homonym car company.
Ferrari, instead of listening to Lamborghini’s feedback and improving the car, scorned the man, who was also a loyal customer.
As the story goes Ferrari told Lamborghini:
โyou donโt know how to drive a Ferrari!โ
Lamborghini went back home pissed.
Back home from Maranello, as Ferruccio sat at the dinner table with his family he lamented how badly Ferrari had treated him nonetheless being a great customer for Ferrari and the owner of a factory that made over 50 tractors per day!
Out of just frustration, Ferruccio said to his family he would try to build his own car.
His family tried to persuade him from doing that. Yet Ferruccio thought to cut the marketing costs of advertising their tractors through billboards and instead use them to build the car.
“At worst,” he thought, “the fact that Lamborghini had made his own car would make such a noise that it would have repaid it back!”
Everyone in the family was against that decision.
Yet Ferruccio was stubborn.
Ferruccio said to all,
โyouโll see that if the car is done how I like it, everyone else will love it too!โ
Within a few weeks, he had put together the team to build the car.
Similar to Ferrari with a Prancing Horse as a symbol, Lamborghini instead picked the bull.
The first iconic model The Lamborghini Miura launched. This is how one of the most iconic car luxury brands was built out of frustration for how Ferrari treated Lamborghini as a customer!
The Miura revolutionized sports cars as it had the motor at the center and with an integrated differential gearbox and that all came out from a Ferrari lover!
As Ferruccio Lamborghini explained the best marketing cost is customer support while very very expensive. If done right it turns into a powerful word-of-mouth loop with a huge ROI!
And the opposite is true! When you let down your most loyal customer base, you might be missing out on a huge business opportunity.
Today Lamborghini is as much an iconic brand, as Ferrari.
Yet both brands were sold.
Lamborghini is now part of the Volkswagen Group.
Founding and early headwinds
Before starting the company in question, Lamborghini owned a successful tractor company that also expanded into air-conditioning systems and boilers. Such was his success that he was considered one of Italyโs great industrialists.
Flush with money, Lamborghini purchased a Ferrari 250GT. He then had the idea to start his own car company and commissioned a firm to develop a V12 engine for a new grand touring car that could compete with Ferrari.
The first Lamborghini โ dubbed the 350GTV โ was unveiled at the Turin motor show in 1963. A stretched version of the car known as the 400GT 2+2 was later unveiled in Geneva in 1966 which, like its predecessor, was well received by the public.
Sales were sufficient that Lamborghini could employ 170 staff at its SantโAgata factory. However, sales suffered a major decline after the 1973 economic downturn and oil crisis.
At the age of 57, Ferruccio Lamborghini sold 51% of the company to friend and business partner Georges-Henri Rossetti for $600,000.
He sold the remainder in 1974 to mutual friend Renรฉ Leimer, severed all connections with the brand, and retired to an estate in central Italy.
Bankruptcy
The change of ownership did little to reverse the companyโs fortunes. Lamborghini declared bankruptcy in 1978, with Swiss food entrepreneurs Jean-Claude and Patrick Mimran appointed by a court to manage the company whilst in receivership.
Patrick Mimran then embarked on a massive restructuring that included an overhaul of the Lamborghini factory.
He also scoured the globe for a new team of designers and engineers and oversaw the release of popular models like the Countach and LM002 SUV.
The Mimran brothers then sold the company to Chrysler for $25.2 million.
Chrysler and others
Chrysler started to siphon profits for other endeavors, but once Diablo sales plummeted, the American company sold Lamborghini to MegaTech โ a subsidiary of Indonesian conglomerate SEDTCO.
While sales were increasing, Lamborghini was still in the red and was once more restructured in 1995. This time, 60% went to VโPower Corporation while the remaining 40% was held by Malaysian firm MyCom Bhd.
Fiat veteran Vittorio di Capua was then hired in 1996 with the hope that he could make the company profitable.
Costs were subsequently cut and several executives were fired, and di Capua was also able to increase Lamborghini’s production efficiency by 50%.
Who owns Lamborghini today?
The Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s instituted another ownership change.
The deal was made via Volkswagen subsidiary Audi AG. According to Audi spokesman Juergen de Graeve, this was done so that Lamborghini “could strengthen Audi’s sporty profile, and on the other hand Lamborghini could benefit from [Audiโs] technical expertise.โ
Lamborghini remains under the ownership of Audi AG today.
Restructuring
In the wake of the Audi acquisition, the first order of business was to restructure Lamborghini as a holding company known as Automobili Lamborghini Holding S.p.A. Audi president Franz-Josef Paefgen was instituted as chairman.
Moving forward, the holding company would manage three subsidiaries
- Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. โ vehicle manufacturing.
- Motori Marini Lamborghini S.p.A. โ which would handle the production of marine engines, and
- Automobili Lamborghini Artimarca S.p.A. โ a subsidiary responsible for merchandising and licensing.
Diablo GT
In 1999, former Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Ferrari head Giuseppe Greco was hired to lead Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. This also coincided with the release of the Diablo GT, a supercar with a top speed of 210 miles per hour that made it the fastest road-going car on the market.
The Diablo GT helped Lamborghini boost its sales to 265 units in 1999 โ a 24% increase over the previous year.
Lamborghini’s five-year plan
With Audiโs support, Lamborghini launched a five-year plan at the turn of the millennium to ensure the brandโs longevity. This included a $161 million investment in new engineering and production facilities in SantโAgata, and two new models were also planned to succeed the Diablo.
One of these, initially codenamed L147 and released as the Murciรฉlago in 2001, was the first model developed under Audi ownership. However, it retained many of Lamborghiniโs traditional design principles and paid homage to the companyโs most celebrated icons.
The Murciรฉlago was succeeded by the smaller V10-equipped Gallardo, with this model spawning several variants that included the rear-wheel-drive Balboni, the convertible Spyder, and a more nimble track car called the Superleggera.
By 2003, Lamborghini aimed to produce 1,500 vehicles per year and found stability for the first time in many years.
Impact of the GFC
Lamborghini set a new record in 2008 after it sold a total of 2,430 vehicles. However, the impact of the GFC saw the company sell only 1,515 vehicles in 2009 and 1,302 vehicles in 2010.
This number would have been lower had it not been for growth in the Asia-Pacific market, with well-heeled buyers in China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East some of the privileged few who could afford a Lamborghiniโs $200,000 asking price.
Aventador is introduced
Lamborghini introduced the Murciรฉlago replacement known as the Aventador at the Geneva Motor show in 2011. This was the first new model in over a decade and had a new V12 engine that was a departure from the one designed by Bizzarrini.
Like the Gallardo, the Aventador served as the inspiration for many subsequent variants. To celebrate the companyโs 50th anniversary, the Aventador LP was released in 2013. A track-focused iteration called the Aventador SV followed in 2015.
The Centenario, which debut four-wheel steering and torque vectoring, was released in 2016 to commemorate what would have been Ferruccio Lamborghiniโs 100th birthday.
IPO
In October 2020, Reuters reported that parent company Volkswagen was sounding out bankers and potential investors about a Lamborghini IPO. Sources noted that VW wanted to make Lamborghini more independent but would retain its controlling stake in the brand as it looked for economies of scale in EV production.
Two years later, in November 2022, it was once more reported that Volkswagen was eyeing a potential IPO after Porscheโs stock market debut raised around $9 billion.
Key takeaways
- Lamborghini is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer that was founded in 1963 by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini. Since then, ownership of the firm has changed several times.
- Lamborghini declared bankruptcy in 1978 because of the economic downturn and oil crisis of the time. It was then purchased by two food entrepreneurs who subsequently sold it to Chrysler.
- Another financial crisis in the late 1990s saw Lamborghini sold to Volkswagen through its subsidiary Audi AG. The subsidiary remains the owner of Lamborghini today.
Key Highlights
- Founding and Early Challenges: Lamborghini, an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer, was founded in 1963 by Ferruccio Lamborghini. Before starting the car company, Lamborghini had a successful tractor business. He decided to create his own car company after experiencing issues with his Ferraris’ clutches and receiving poor treatment from Enzo Ferrari.
- Ferrari vs. Lamborghini: Lamborghini’s frustration with Ferrari’s treatment led him to start his own car company. He commissioned the development of a V12 engine and launched the first Lamborghini, the 350GTV, in 1963.
- Ownership Changes: Lamborghini faced financial challenges, including the 1973 economic downturn and oil crisis. The company declared bankruptcy in 1978.
- Mimran Brothers and Chrysler: Swiss food entrepreneurs Patrick and Jean-Claude Mimran managed Lamborghini during receivership. They sold the company to Chrysler, who developed the successful Diablo model.
- VโPower Corporation and Audi Ownership: After various ownership changes, VโPower Corporation and MyCom Bhd acquired Lamborghini in 1995. Audi AG, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, purchased Lamborghini in 1998 for around $110 million.
- Audi’s Influence and Restructuring: Under Audi’s ownership, Lamborghini was restructured as Automobili Lamborghini Holding S.p.A. Franz-Josef Paefgen became chairman. Lamborghini’s lineup expanded, including the release of the Diablo GT and other models like the Murciรฉlago and Gallardo.
- Aventador and Variants: Lamborghini introduced the Aventador in 2011 as a replacement for the Murciรฉlago. This marked the start of a new era for Lamborghini’s flagship models, with various variants and special editions.
- Potential IPO: In recent years, there have been discussions about the potential for Lamborghini to have an initial public offering (IPO) to increase its independence within the Volkswagen Group and potentially raise funds for expansion.
- Current Ownership: Lamborghini remains under the ownership of Audi AG, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, as of the latest available information.
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