I’ve been busy trying to catch different races like Pokémon over the past few years, and I just added Sebring to my list. Lamborghini invited us out to see the Temerario GT3 debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring, and we took full advantage of that offer. In addition to getting to ride along in the road going Temerario, we also got to speak with Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.
While most automakers had a rough year, Lamborghini delivered 10,700 cars globally. However, Winkelmann was clear that it wasn’t that straightforward. “There was no normal year. The new normal is that we have to adapt quickly.”
Demand isn’t the issue, and Winkelmann didn’t pretend it was. If anything, he was pretty clear about where they drew the line. “We don’t want to reach for peaks,” he said, which is a pretty direct way of saying they’re not interested in building more cars just because they can.
Being at Sebring connected a lot of dots for me. You’ve got the Temerario GT3 debut happening, cars going out all weekend, and then you sit down with Winkelmann and hear how they’re actually thinking about everything behind it. It’s not separate; it all ties together. The racing side, the road cars, even how many cars they decide to build, it’s all coming from the same place. And once you see that up close, it’s easier to understand why Lamborghini is not trying to chase what everyone else is doing right now. And you know what? That seems to be working incredibly well for them.
