According to UK based CAR magazine, we’ll be seeing the return of Stephan Winkelmann as CEO of Automobili Lamborghini SpA very soon to take over from Stefano Domenicali who is leaving his position of Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini in 2021 … ironically, Domenicali took over from Winkelmann in 2016.
When Stephan Winkelmann unveiled the Lamborghini Centenario at the 86th Geneva Motor Show in March 2016, it would be the last Raging Bull he introduced, at that press conference we got to see Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board Management of AUDI AG, bringing Stefano Domenicali onto the stage as the successor to Winkelmann as President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini SpA, March 15, 2016 was Winkelmann’s last day at Sant’Agata as he became the head of Audi’s Sport division before he became President of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. on January 1 2018.
Winkelmann and Domenicali are about the same age, Stephan Winkelmann was born in Berlin on October 18, 1964 but grew up in Rome, while Stefano Domenicali was born on 11 May 1965 in Imola. Stephan Winkelmann became President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini SpA on January 1 2005, taking over the reign from Giuseppe Greco (who had been CEO since 1999), and would take Lamborghini to the next level in terms of production and profitability over a period of ten years before Domenicali took over in early 2016.
Now it seems Winkelmann will return to Lamborghini after being way for 5 years, as Stefano Domenicali leaves to join the Formula 1 marketer Liberty Media, while being President of Bugatti, Winkelmann was responsible for the Divo and the Centodieci, but also La Voiture Noir, and recently the ‘Bolide’ …so will we be seeing a similar aproach being implemented at Lamborghini when he takes over?
Let’s not forget just about the entire current line-up from Sant’Agata has been developed while Stephan Winkelmann was heading the company, the Aventador in 2011, the Huracan in 2014, and naturally the Urus Concept he unveiled at the 2012 Beijing show, the Urus production version was only unveiled at the end of 2017, but just about the entire development was overseen while Winkelmann was at the helm.
So what does he come back to at Lamborghini after five years? The Aventador replacement has been confirmed and development is 99% done, so he won’t be able to have much else to do on the flagship model, but there is still the Huracan successor that is under development as we speak, so he might be able to influence the new V10 model, just as with the Urus which is still in it’s initial version at this moment, so there are still oportunities for additional version of the Super SUV, and the mid-life facelift … and let’s not forget the rumors about a fourth model to the list, a Lamborghini GT is still in the planning too.
So it’s safe to say Stephan Winkelmann will have lots to do when he returns to Automobili Lamborghini SpA, even if Audi AG decides to go public with it, as they also intend to do with Ducati and Ital Design, in 2022, while they will retain the majority of shares naturally. For the moment Stephan Winkelmann could become both CEO at Lamborghini and remain president at Bugatti … but what if Bugatti is sold to Rimac … in that case things could quickly change…