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.
| Aspect | Description | Analysis | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Products and Services | Lamborghini is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer known for producing high-performance and exotic sports cars. The company offers a range of luxury vehicles, including the Lamborghini Huracán, Lamborghini Aventador, and limited-production models like the Lamborghini Centenario. Lamborghini’s cars are known for their cutting-edge design, performance, and exclusivity. | Lamborghini’s core offerings are high-performance sports cars, targeting an exclusive clientele seeking prestige, speed, and exclusivity. Limited-production models cater to collectors and enthusiasts. | Lamborghini Huracán EVO, Lamborghini Aventador S, limited-edition models like Lamborghini Veneno. |
| Revenue Streams | Lamborghini generates revenue primarily through the sale of its luxury sports cars. Additional income may come from customization options, brand licensing (e.g., merchandise), limited-production and special edition models, and after-sales services such as maintenance and servicing. | Vehicle sales represent the primary revenue source, aligning with Lamborghini’s core business. Customization, licensing, and limited-edition models add to income. After-sales services contribute to ongoing revenue. | Revenue from luxury car sales, customization services, brand licensing, limited-edition model sales, after-sales services. |
| Customer Segments | Lamborghini serves an exclusive and affluent customer base, including high-net-worth individuals, collectors, enthusiasts, and those seeking the pinnacle of luxury and high-performance automobiles. The brand embodies prestige and exclusivity. | Lamborghini’s target demographic consists of individuals seeking the utmost in luxury, speed, and status in their automobiles. The brand is synonymous with prestige, design, and performance. | High-net-worth individuals, luxury car collectors, racing enthusiasts, brand-conscious consumers. |
| Distribution Channels | Lamborghini distributes its luxury sports cars through a network of authorized dealerships and showrooms worldwide. The company also offers customization options to personalize vehicles according to customers’ preferences. Limited-production models are often sold through exclusive events and pre-orders. | Authorized dealerships ensure a personalized buying experience, aligning with the exclusivity of the brand. Customization options allow for individual preferences. Limited-edition models are sold through exclusive events to create buzz and exclusivity. | Lamborghini dealerships and showrooms, bespoke customization options, exclusive events for limited-edition models. |
| Key Partnerships | Lamborghini collaborates with suppliers and partners to source high-quality materials and components. The company also forms partnerships for limited-edition models, collaborations with designers, and brand licensing for merchandise. | Supplier partnerships are vital for ensuring the use of premium materials and components in vehicle production. Limited-edition model partnerships create exclusivity and brand appeal. Collaborations with designers and brand licensing generate additional income. | Collaborations with suppliers for premium leather and materials, partnerships with fashion designers for special editions, brand licensing for Lamborghini-branded merchandise. |
| Key Resources | Lamborghini’s key resources include its iconic brand reputation, automotive design and engineering expertise, skilled craftsmen, manufacturing facilities, limited-production capabilities, global dealer network, and a commitment to innovation and performance. | Lamborghini’s brand reputation signifies luxury, speed, and exclusivity. Expertise in design and engineering ensures exceptional quality. Skilled craftsmen contribute to bespoke customization. Manufacturing facilities support production, including limited-edition models. A global dealer network provides access to customers. Innovation drives performance improvements. | Lamborghini’s brand recognition, design and engineering teams, skilled artisans, manufacturing plants, limited-production capabilities, global dealer network, innovation in performance and technology. |
| Cost Structure | Lamborghini incurs costs in research and development for car design and engineering, production and manufacturing, marketing and advertising, employee wages, customization services, and after-sales services such as maintenance and servicing. | Manufacturing costs for high-performance sports cars are significant. R&D investment in design and engineering supports cutting-edge technology. Marketing campaigns drive brand prestige. Employee wages are substantial due to technical expertise. Customization services and after-sales services enhance customer experience. | Manufacturing Lamborghini vehicles, R&D for new car models, marketing campaigns, employee salaries, customization services for customers, after-sales maintenance and servicing. |
| Competitive Advantage | Lamborghini’s competitive advantage lies in its iconic brand, exceptional design, cutting-edge performance, exclusivity, and limited-production models. It offers a unique blend of luxury, speed, and customization, appealing to discerning customers and collectors. Commitment to innovation and performance keeps Lamborghini at the forefront of the supercar market. | Lamborghini’s brand recognition and performance set it apart in the luxury sports car market. Limited-production models create exclusivity and demand. A focus on innovation and cutting-edge design ensures relevance and appeal. | Iconic Lamborghini design, limited-production models like the Lamborghini Sian, innovations in aerodynamics and performance. |
| Value Proposition | Lamborghini provides customers with the ultimate in luxury, speed, and exclusivity in their automobiles. It offers a bespoke and personalized experience, allowing customers to express their individuality through customization. Lamborghini embodies prestige, design, and performance. | Lamborghini’s value proposition centers on delivering a unique and personalized driving experience. It caters to users seeking the highest level of luxury, speed, and exclusivity. Customization options allow for individual expression. | Owning a bespoke Lamborghini car, configuring a Lamborghini to exact specifications, experiencing the thrill of a Lamborghini’s high-performance engine on the road or track. |
History of Lamborghini
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:
“you don’t know how to drive a Ferrari!”
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,
“you’ll see that if the car is done how I like it, everyone else will love it too!”
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, and Ferrari is owned by Stellantis which inherited it from FIAT.
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 Italy’s 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 – dubbed the 350GTV – 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 Sant’Agata 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 René 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 company’s 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
During the brief three years it owned Lamborghini, Chrysler developed the successful Diablo which at the time was the fastest production car in the world.
Chrysler started to siphon profits for other endeavors, but once Diablo sales plummeted, the American company sold Lamborghini to MegaTech – 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 V’Power 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.
As part of a buying spree that included Bentley and Bugatti, chairman of Volkswagen AG Ferdinand Porsche purchased Lamborghini in 1998 for around $110 million.
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 [Audi’s] technical expertise.”
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. – vehicle manufacturing.
- Motori Marini Lamborghini S.p.A. – which would handle the production of marine engines, and
- Automobili Lamborghini Artimarca S.p.A. – 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 – a 24% increase over the previous year.
Lamborghini’s five-year plan
With Audi’s support, Lamborghini launched a five-year plan at the turn of the millennium to ensure the brand’s longevity. This included a $161 million investment in new engineering and production facilities in Sant’Agata, and two new models were also planned to succeed the Diablo.
One of these, initially codenamed L147 and released as the Murciélago in 2001, was the first model developed under Audi ownership. However, it retained many of Lamborghini’s traditional design principles and paid homage to the company’s most celebrated icons.
The Murciélago 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 Lamborghini’s $200,000 asking price.
Aventador is introduced
Lamborghini introduced the Murciélago 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 company’s 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 Lamborghini’s 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 Porsche’s stock market debut raised around $9 billion.
Analysts from Bloomberg predict Lamborghini could fetch as much as $15 billion in an IPO and believe it will occur sometime before mid-2024.
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. After three years, Chrysler sold the company to Indonesian conglomerate SEDTCO.
- 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. Lamborghini sold 51% of the company to Georges-Henri Rossetti in 1974 and the remaining 49% to René Leimer. 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.
- V’Power Corporation and Audi Ownership: After various ownership changes, V’Power 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 Murciélago and Gallardo.
- Aventador and Variants: Lamborghini introduced the Aventador in 2011 as a replacement for the Murciélago. 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. An IPO is anticipated by analysts to happen before mid-2024.
- Current Ownership: Lamborghini remains under the ownership of Audi AG, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, as of the latest available information.
Related To the Volkswagen Group
Related Onwership Case Studies
