Last week we found an article stating a Swiss investment group called Quantum Group AG made VAG, the VW Group, an offer of €7.5 billion ($9.2 billion at today’s currency conversion) to buy Automobili Lamborghini SpA, and they did mean business, as they wanted everything, the HQ in Sant’Agata in its entirety … but the VW Group denied the offer and officially stated Lamborghini is not for sale.
If the Quantum Group came up with this offer a while ago, when we had the ‘Dieselgate’ going on, they might have had a chance to make a deal, as VAG was looking for money at that point, and there was a rumor they were looking at selling some of their ‘other’ makes like Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, and Lamborghini.
At one point there was even a rumor of Automobili Lamborghini SpA ‘going public’, there was an intention to offer shares of Lamborghini on the stock exchange, VAG, or more precisely Audi AG, would still keep a controlling amount of shares, but people like you and me could buy a part of the company … but that never materialized either.
Quantum Group’s representative, Rea Stark mentioned to Reuters that they are still interested in buying Automobili Lamborghini SpA from Audi AG, and to make their point even more interesting, they would add up to €2 billion more for a total amount of €9.5 billion (about $11.5 billion) to cover future investments and even go as far as offering a guarantee for all employees currently under contract at Lamborghini for the next five years … if the VW Group is open to negotiations, they are even considering to go further up.
Quantum Group AG would not only buy the rights to the name Lamborghini, but also the entire factory at Sant’Agata, including the Squadra Corse department, for the first five years they would like to keep a supply chain from Audi open to be able to keep the current models in production, but the goal is to share battery development between them and Audi well into the future.
And electrification is the future, Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Automobili Lamborghini SpA made that clear in his latest presentation, we already knew the Aventador and Huracán successors would become hybrids for sure, but Lamborghini will be investing a total of €1.5 billion over the next years to have a fully electric fourth model in the lineup by 2025, while the Aventador successor that will be available by 2023 will most likely keep a V12 engine, but get electric motors added to become the first hybrid production model from Sant’Agata.
After the first offer from Quantum Group AG, the spokesman for the VW Group made it very clear there was no intention of selling Automobili Lamborghini SpA … at that time, might an increase of more than 25% be enticing now? Only the future will tell, but Lamborghini has been making money and had a healthy production figure for the last several years, so what would make the VW Group want to sell a successful company at this point in time?
