We Asked Lamborghini’s CEO If Manuals Are Coming Back

0:00 Introduction to Stefan Vinkelman

Do you remember the first Lamborghini we ever drove?

Was it when you started a Lamborghini or was

it sometimes before

that?

No, I was working for a Frameo.

Okay.

I visited a

dealer in Hieda Kuntach.

Hello, and welcome to a very,

very special version of the Cream podcast,

because we have got a very, very special

guest in Stefan Vinkleman.

It's the CEO of Lamborghini.

We don't quite know how we've managed to get

this, but we have.

But here we are.

We're here in Pebble Beach, actually.

Yep.

And it is unbelievable.

We thought we've got about half an hour,

so we thought we'd get some questions in.

How are you today?

I'm very good.

Very good.

So you've just done the Revuelto SV reveal.

That's just come out.

And has it been received well so far?

They say that I always have high expectations.

And since yesterday, they were even better

than what I expected.

Also, the feedback was very positive from the

fans, from the customers.

from the customers, but also from the press.

So I'm really happy about the outcome.

That's good.

We actually, we drove a Revuelto for the

first time very recently and we were blown

away by it.

It's one of the most insane cars we've ever driven.

But having to make the SV, with lots of

people modifying them and making body kits

and exhausts and loud making them faster,

has it been harder to make an SV and make it

as extreme as you want?

Or is it not too bad?

Let's say that the idea, we gave was a pretty simple one.

It's always simple to give a briefing,

but it's difficult then to put into reality.

So we said that we need if, let's say,

let's do a short introduction.

So the V12 is the legacy of Lamborghini.

So it's the car which is positioning the brand.

And the Super Veloches started with the Nura.

So it's an hour history of 55 years.

We were not always consistent in the history.

So the Nura was done, but not the Countach.

and Musea Lago and also Riente Lago.

So if the V12 engine car is the legacy and

the positioning car, then the Super Veloches

to go even a step further.

This is the moment.

So the briefing was to say we have to get the

most out of the racing experience into the car.

And it worked because the car is amazing in

acceleration, but also in the lap time.

So in the hot time ring, now we are

definitely fast to see its production car.

And this is something which is really not

easy to achieve because it's also a big car.

Especially with modern cars with hybrids and stuff.

But I mean we drove that car and it was just

one of the fastest things we've ever been in.

Now obviously you've been with Lamborghini

since 2005 I think it was.

So that is probably part of our favorite era

of Lamborghini.

But I have a burning question that maybe not

many people want to know, but how do you

actually pronounce Scallado?

Is it Gallardo or is it Gallardo?

How do you pronounce it?

You say Gallardo.

We met Valentina Balboni yesterday.

You could say Gallardo and Mercielago or Mercielago.

Mercielago.

Okay we've got to get used to that one then.

Now we saw somewhere that you at one point

3:16 Company Cars and Personal Lamborghinis

in the earlier days you had two company cars

at one point, an Audi RS4 and a Gallardo Superlagera.

Was that your favorite pair of company cars?

It was an RS6.

The V10 twin turbo?

The V8.

Is that your favorite pair of company cars or

do you have any with any better ones?

Today I have the Urus and I'm very happy with the Urus.

But having a Gallardo as a company car is not

bad to be honest.

And do you have any personal Lamborghini

still for yourself or is it mainly the company cars?

No it's the company cars.

I'm not a collector.

I don't know why but it never happened.

And obviously you were in charge when the

Reventon was released which is again one of

our favorite Lamborghinis of all time.

We saw one yesterday and we felt like

children just seeing one go past because you

never see it.

I had heads up on the Reventon because we

were in a period with Gallardo Muxilago.

We were a two model company.

So there was not a lot in terms of visibility

and with new dairy rates coming up.

So we said that we have to create something

and the designers and our engineers are

always pushing to do something,

give me the freedom.

And so I said, well I give you the freedom to do.

So test if we can achieve something extraordinary.

It was a 2007 and it worked out perfectly.

So this few off idea was something which

really was born with the Reventon.

Yeah.

And is it true that you sold all of them from

just showing people a scale model before a

car was in the middle?

Yes, it was a scale model.

I don't know.

I want to four or one, two, three.

I can't remember.

Do you know where that model is?

Have you still got that model somewhere or is that going?

I think it's still in the design.

Yeah.

Because the Reventon is just,

the Mercilago is my favorite car.

I bought one recently.

It was my dream car.

I've always wanted one.

But a Reventon is, yeah, I mean,

they are unbelievable.

I read years ago, you said that some of your

strongest memories at Lamborghini were

testing prototypes sort of with a management

team and doing sort of like,

you know, testing at night.

Have you got any stories

or specific cars you remember from those kind

of, that kind of era?

I think every era has good memories in testing cars.

We went to Nardo at the end of July the last

time by testing all the line up and also the competition.

And this is always a fantastic experience due

to two reasons that we are out of the office

for some days.

So you have a sort of higher degree of

freedom and you're not forced into meetings or calls.

And then you have beside testing the cars,

which is always fun.

And we're not only going on the test track,

but also we are going into our course so with

all the cars and you have always the people

coming and asking.

And then you have time with your colleagues.

So and this is a condensed time,

which I always really appreciate,

which is also creating more a team than when

you're every day in the office.

Was that much easier back in sort of 2005 in the 2000s?

Obviously there were less people posting on

social media, whereas now it feels like

everything gets leaked a week before.

It must have been easier back then to surprise people.

It's a surprise for sure.

But now it's clear that we also change our

strategy of announcing cars.

We are leaking certain images.

We are having some ideas on how to get and to

let's say put all this curiosity away from

those who think that we want to destroy

our unveiling.

Switching gears a little bit.

7:00 Manual Transmission in Future Lamborghinis

A little metaphorically there.

A lot of the competitors now and a lot of the

market is now trying to call back to manual cars.

Obviously progress pushes the manual out and

moves on to other cars.

Do you see a future where you bring back a

manual Lamborghini?

I learned one thing in my professional life.

Never say never.

But in general I have to say there are two things.

I remember very well when we still had a

stick shift and it was going down to zero of the request.

And when there was a request I always asked

them to put a to show me the configuration

because very often it was a mistake.

So now the things change.

But we have in the last three years we

changed the complete lineup.

We have all of our derivative strategy in Pétos.

So the pipeline is really full.

We are already working on the fall of Duros

on the Ransados or the Ford model.

And the team is focused and the one of the

secrets in my opinion of success is yes to

have a wild bunch of people but also very disciplined.

Disciplined in the sense that they know what

is feasible in the time and what not.

Because if you want to be surprising like we

did with the Strato for example,

then you have to play in a different field constantly.

And therefore we have to, let's

say, bundle the resources and have ideas

which are, let's

say, brave but also unexpected.

with Galiado and Huda can we had a B10 and

then a

development out of the Galiado B10.

So it was reaching a

limit in terms of horsepower and also in

terms of emission.

And therefore it was clear from the very

beginning that we

would have gone a different way and with a

complete new engine.

And this is an engine which has to.

It's a beer companion over the life cycle of the car.

And therefore it was not an idea to keep the V10.

Okay, fair enough.

I always wondered how long, whether it was a

last

minute, but you know, if there was ever a

possibility they could have done.

You can't do it.

But you never know, as you said,

you never know, it could make a comeback.

If the rules change, we'll say.

Do you remember the first Lamborghini you ever drove?

Was it when you started a Lamborghini or was

it sometime before?

No, I was working for it for Romeo.

Okay.

I visited a dealer in Hieta Kuntaj.

Nice.

And we were good friends, not friends,

but he was a nice guy.

He was Italian

and we were speaking about cars and he said,

you know, I have a Kuntaj.

Have you ever driven a Lamborghini?

No, never.

So I was not driving.

He was driving.

Yeah.

So we went on the highway and it was an

impressive experience, I have to say.

And this was in the night.

So I think it was in the time when the Diablo

just came out.

So, but it was a nice experience.

Yeah, I can imagine.

If

you had to have one Lamborghini from either

past or present

to have as your personal car,

which one would you choose

and what color would you choose it in?

Because for Lamborghini, the color you choose

is the most important thing.

For me, it's a bit different.

Yeah, two things.

For me, it's always the next car.

Okay.

So it's a daily car for sure.

The coolest now is the car I would always pick.

But I like those, I like matte colors and I

like dark colors.

So like military green, dark blue,

black or even white.

But not the ones with-- The private ones.

Not yellow orange or purple.

It's not so much.

Or the bright green ones.

But this is my personal taste.

It's not something where I never,

you should never tell anybody to help anybody

to configure a car because it's so personal.

Has there ever been a model of Lamborghini

that there's been an idea for or a concept,

but it didn't come to fruition?

Obviously there was the stock I think it was back in.

The stock was an idea because we wanted to test.

But we were unlucky at the same time.

Unlucky because it was at the age of 2000.

We presented at the Paris Motor Show and then

was the financial crisis so we had to stop anyways.

It was also a good choice not to do because

the limousines are not cars which have the

right market anymore.

So we should have gone with a long wheelbase

because you sell more here in the US and then

Asia than in Europe, those cars and without a

long wheelbase.

And the long wheelbase is not really fitting

to a Lamborghini.

Were there any ideas that didn't see the

light of day?

I remember hearing about a rumour,

this might have been in the 90s or early

2000s where there was a rumour of an off-road

Mercielago.

And there's only one picture I've ever seen

but

are there any models like that where you wish

it could have

been made?

Because at the end of the day,

maybe it was not the right fit or we had

other priorities.

But yes, there were for sure.

But this is normal in our business.

It must be quite hard when someone comes to

you with a really...

What do you think is an amazing idea but you

need to be the customer's need to buy it so

it must be hard.

How do you have to have the money to develop that?

Yes.

The Reventum was obviously one of the first

or if not the first kind of really special

one off-lamborghinis.

What kind of triggered that idea?

When you came up, when you had that idea that

anyone told you that you shouldn't do that or was it?

No, but as I said the Reventum was created

out of the push from everybody to do

something different and special because we

were a small company but there were a lot of

ideas so we said how can we do something and

prove that we are able to stay in the market

also with a price and a limited number of

cars being at a business?

And therefore we saw the car and everybody

was blown away and for example this was our

first really mad car with this stealth

fighter and so the idea was coming from

fighter jet also the the dashboard there were

things which were very much reminding fighter

jets and therefore this was something which

immediately was taking the enthusiasm of the entirety.

So we did it and as

you said no we sold the cars with a small

model because we

said we can only do it if we have the clarity

of the people

buying the car.

Now we have all this legislation,

we have Euro 7, we have other emission rules

which we are working on which the V12 is matching.

So this is the positive thing so we can reach

the mid of the 30s with the technology we

have in place now and then we have to see the

idea is to continue.

The idea is to continue to have a V12 is long

as possible.

That is exactly what we wanted to hear.

There we go, we have run out of time now,

thank you very much for

your time, this has been amazing.

Thank you for coming down

here and having an interview,

I hope you have enjoyed it

and we will see you next week.

Thank you very much.

Thank

you very much.