By William Boston
Italian sports car maker Lamborghini on Wednesday confirmed
plans to build a new sport-utility vehicle in a move to tap global
growth in luxury automobiles.
Lamborghini first presented a prototype of the SUV in 2012. The
decision to go into production was held up over discussions with
its parent company Audi AG, a unit of Volkswagen AG, over design
and the costs of building the car in Italy. The new SUV will become
available in 2018.
After negotiations with Italian trade unions and the Italian
government, Lamborghini won concessions, including tax breaks and
other incentives, that allowed it to get the green light from Audi
to build the car at its main plant, according to people familiar
with the situation.
"The new SUV will be built in Sant'Agata and demonstrates our
commitment to protect the values of 'Made in Italy,'" said Stephan
Winkelmann, President and Chief Executive of Lamborghini, in a
statement.
The company plans to produce 3,000 SUVs a year, doubling
Lamborghini's total output, which was about 2,530 cars last year.
Lamborghini will nearly double the size of its factory to 150,000
square meters.
Lamborghini follows in the footsteps of other luxury car makers
who have sought to get into the higher-volume SUV market with an
upscale luxury vehicle.
Sports-car maker Porsche now produces two SUVs, the Cayenne and
the Macan, and sells more SUVs than conventional sports cars.
Luxury car maker Bentley, also owned by Volkswagen, plans to
begin production of a luxury SUV later this year. And Bentley rival
Rolls-Royce has also announced plans to build a luxury SUV.
Although the Lamborghini SUV will be assembled in Sant'Agata,
many of its components will come from other factories in
Volkswagen's network, including its SUV factory in Bratislava,
Slovakia.
The Bratislava plant also builds the chassis and other
components for Bentley's SUV, Porsche's Cayenne and Macan, and
Volkswagen's Touareg.
Eric Sylvers contributed to this article.
Write to William Boston at william.boston@wsj.com
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