Friday, March 18, 2011

Lamborghini future plans revealed: Cabrera, Estoque Convertible, LP700 Jota on their way

Lamborghini is putting together plans for the launch of several new models in the next two to three years, such as the Estoque four-door, the carbon-fiber-intensive Sesto Elemento and a Gallardo replacement that may be named the Cabrera. Lamborghini, which is a unit of the Volkswagen Group, has also prepared a long-range blueprint for its future, depending a lot on VW Group platforms as the building blocks for a new set of Lamborghinis from now until 2020. Media have been speculating wildly about Lamborghini's future plans and how much the Volkswagen Group will influence it in terms of vehicle architectures and powertrains. Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann himself has allowed the speculation to intensify as he has implied during interviews with several publications that the Estoque, presented as a concept at the 2008 Paris Auto Show, is nearing production.

It’s also believed that the Sesto Elemento, which was displayed as a concept last fall at the 2010 Paris Auto Show, is also moving towards production. Winkelmann said the Sesto Elemento illustrates the look of the super sports car of the future. He said to InsideLine that it will feature extreme lightweight engineering and have extreme performance results to add to the extreme driving fun. He said that this technological advantage – the spirit of the Sesto Elemento -- will be applied right across its model range. For 2011, the Aventador LP700-4 is Lamborghini's major new-model launch. This model was unveiled at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show and it is slated to go into production later this year as the successor to the Murcielago.

Several European Web sites also speculate that Lamborghini is planning a replacement for the Gallardo, which will soon be discontinued. This entry-level Lambo may be dubbed the Cabrera, named after one of the foundational bloodlines of Spanish fighting bulls. It also forecasts that a Cabrera Spyder will arrive in 2014. Fan site Teamspeed.com provided details of Lamborghini's new model plans for the next decade. It stated that the Sesto Elemento and an Aventador roadster may arrive in 2012; the Gallardo replacement could get here in 2013, and the Estoque in 2014. Teamspeed.com also revealed that a "next-gen V10" will power both the Cabrera and the Estoque. It speculates further that the Aventador series will later include Spyder and Super Veloce variants.[via - 4wheelsnews]

Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4