► Lambo considering ‘more politically correct’ designs
► Recent Asterion concept shows alternative style
► ‘Really extreme supercars’ will continue. Phew!
Lamborghini has built its brand identity on wild-looking, angular supercar wedges but that won’t necessarily be the case for all of its future products, design boss Filippo Perini has revealed.
In an interview with trade title Automotive News Europe, Lamborghini’s head of design has explained that part of the rationale behind the recent Asterion concept shown at the 2014 Paris motor show was to explore whether a more rounded, subtler design language would be accepted by the brand’s customers.
‘We need to understand if we can open another window in our future to be not so extreme but also a little bit more politically correct and elegant,’ Perini said.
What? A world with less aggressive Lambos?
No question, the Asterion is certainly less angular and softer-edged than the likes of the Aventador – Perini says the car’s lines are ‘much more classic, much more GT’ and also that his design team leant on the iconic (and relatively curvy, by modern standards) Miura for inspiration, particularly at the car’s tail.
It’s also a far more restrained, less cartoonish prospect than other Lamborghini concepts of recent times – the caricature Veneno and overblown Egoista show cars in particular.
Seeing how far the envelope of a brand’s design language can be stretched is part of a car designer’s job, of course, and exploring different market niches is becoming part of the agenda for an increasing number of high-end car makers.
Let’s not forget the possibility of a production SUV wearing the Lamborghini badge still isn’t entirely out of the question….
Surely this isn’t the end of aggressive, exotic-looking Lambos, though?
Rest assured, this doesn’t mean an end altogether to the kind of dramatic bedroom-wall-poster supercars the company’s famous for. Which is a relief to all at CAR.
‘We will continue to produce really extreme supercars,’ Perini told ANE, ‘but our goal is to understand if the [Asterion’s] design language will be appreciated by a different kind of customer.’
Click here to read more about the Lamborghini Asterion.