If you’ve ever seen the magnificence of a Lamborghini, there’s no doubt you get to ask yourself, “Who owns Lamborghini?” To find the answer is to travel a bit back in time.
Who Owns Lamborghini? | Beginnings of the Car Brand
In This Article:
Meet the Man Who Started Everything
Car companies these days are huge that it’s hard to pinpoint the actual owner. But when it comes to who originally owns Lamborghini, there’s only one: Ferruccio Lamborghini.
The car industry was once full of big personalities with bigger ideas, and he is such an example. The story of Lamborghini and who owns the company today is an interesting one every car fan must know. It involves a tractor and Ferrari.
At the end of World War II, Ferruccio Lamborghini was building farm equipment. It may be hard to imagine now, but prior to being forever linked to fine sports cars, Lamborghini was a brand of tractors.
By the early 1960s, he had expanded his businesses and did what many wealthy Italians of his day chose to do. He purchased a Ferrari sports car. According to the story, the Ferrari that was purchased, however, had clutch problems.
Lamborghini asked his own engineers to fix the design of the clutch. He then set up a meeting with Enzo Ferrari in the latter’s hometown of Maranello, Italy to discuss his solution. Apparently, Ferrari wasn’t thrilled that a “tractor maker” was telling him how to engineer his sports cars.
He ended the conversation, telling Lamborghini to basically “stay in his lane.” The stubborn Lamborghini instead built his own brand of sports cars. He introduced the Lamborghini 350GT in 1964 and the Muira in 1966. Other models followed. Not only did Lamborghini not stay in his lane, but he also moved quickly into Ferrari’s.
Success! Then a Rocky Road
The Lamborghini Miura SV has made I’m 1972 to the the first supercar Lamborghini ever made,already jumping with V12 engine @Lamborghini #Lamborghini #miura#sv #Auto tride pic.twitter.com/wcTkzYmKhx
— cars by Tk (@carsbyTk) April 9, 2018
Lamborghini was very successful in its first decade. Then the fuel crisis and poor economy in the early seventies had devastating effects on the company. After 1973, the company changed hands three times before filing for bankruptcy in 1978.
It would be another decade before Chrysler Corporation took over the automaker in 1987. Chrysler sold it to a Malaysian and Indonesian investment group in 1994. Four years later, that group sold Lamborghini to Volkswagen.
Is Volkswagen the One Who Owns Lamborghini Today?
This car was built and designed to celebrate the Birth of Ferruccio Lamborghini 100 years ago the base price started at $2.5M and there were only 40 total made 20 roadsters 20 coupes the value of these cars have appreciated $1M over the last year and only one is available. pic.twitter.com/d4xdF1Hw7O
— Eastern Shore Exotics (@ESExotics) March 24, 2018
So who owns Lamborghini today? It remains a part of the Volkswagen Group. The company, though, is massive. See how involved it is in multiple premium automotive lines:
- Who owns Audi? The Volkswagen Group.
- Who owns Bugatti? The answer once again is the Volkswagen Group. Bugatti is perhaps most famous in automotive circles for its amazing Bugatti Veyron engine. This impressive 16-cylinder engine produces a whopping 1,200 horsepower.
- Who owns Porsche? The Volkswagen Group.
- Who owns Rolls Royce? BMW. Both BMW and Rolls Royce are strong brands, and at one point, the Volkswagen Group had an interest in Rolls Royce but took on Bentley instead. Yes, it’s true. The Volkswagen Group also owns Bentley.
- Who owns BMW? Stefan Quandt owns 29% of BMW and Susanne Klatten owns 29%. The remaining 50% of BMW is a public float.
- Who owns Mercedes? Mercedes-Benz is owned by Daimler AG. Daimler and Volkswagen are part of a three-automaker consortium to negotiate a deal for a Nokia mapping technology.
- Who owns Maserati? This luxury brand is owned by Fiat. It’s in talks with Volkswagen to build light utility vehicles.
- Who owns Ferrari? Ferrari models including the 2016 Ferrari 488 GTB and the 2016 F12 Berlinetta are made by Fiat. Does Fiat own Ferrari? The answer is yes. Like Lamborghini’s story, the Ferrari story has its own twists and turns.
What’s one of the best ways to know who owns a Lamborghini? Head to the museum! Catch a glimpse of it in this video by Vehicle Virgins:
Who owns Lamborghini? It is only right to pay homage to the beginning of everything: the Italian industrialist Ferruccio. The present story, though, is slightly different. In the coming years, it will also develop into something else. After all, the car industry is rapidly changing, fueled by mergers, self-driving, and alternative fuel technology. Who knows who will own one of the significant luxury car brands in the world by then?
Do you have some nice stories to share about Lamborghini? Share them with us in the comments below.
Up Next: The History and Meaning Behind the Famous Lamborghini Logo
Featured Image via Vasilika / Shutterstock.com
