Looks like the rumors were true: Stephan Winkelmann, who has served as CEO of Lamborghini since 2005, is stepping down. The Italian supercar maker has just named his successor: Stefano Domenicali, the former Ferrari Formula One team boss long rumored to be taking over at the top of Lamborghini. He will succeed Winkelmann on March 15th, Reuters reports.
Domenicali presided over Scuderia Ferrari from 2008 to 2014, an era that was not particularly successful for the legendary Formula 1 team. After six seasons without a Ferrari driver taking the F1 Championship, and an especially embarrassing 2014 season where Mercedes dominated, Domenicali departed the team, ending a 23-year career with Ferrari. He became a vice president for new business initiatives at Audi that same year.
Departing Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann has presided over the supercar maker's most successful era in its 50-year history, with vehicle deliveries more than doubling to a record 3,245 units and revenues more than tripling, Reuters reports.
Winkelmann has also led the modernization of the legendary brand's lineup, making the way for an upcoming Lamborghini SUV that will be the automaker's first turbocharged offering. Such changes may seem revolutionary for a brand built on naturally-aspirated V12 supercars, but as Winkelmann explained it, the SUV offering would expand the brand's sales significantly, while its turbocharged, lower-displacement engine would take some of the regulatory pressure off the brand, ensuring that it could continue to make naturally-aspirated, large-displacement supercars for as long as possible. And continue to take on Ferrari.
Automotive News reports that Winkelmann will become head of Audi Quattro Gmbh, which builds the German automaker's top-end R line of sports cars and performance sedans.