Today, Automobili Lamborghini is a world renowned companyl, with more than 2,000 employees and 9,233 cars delivered by 2022. However, when Ferruccio Lamborghini founded the company in 1963, he started from scratch. Over the past 60 years, the Lamborghini headquarters where iconic cars continue to be created has undergone improvements, expansions and reconfigurations based on production, environmental and technological needs, but has never lost its original central structure.
Ferruccio Lamborghini searched for a location to establish his new company and chose the land to build his new factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese, a few kilometers from his hometown of Cento. The construction of the initial part of the factory, considered one of the most modern of its time, was very fast and was completed in just eight months, between the autumn and winter of 1963. On October 20 of that same year, when Ferruccio Lamborghini invited the press to the presentation Lamborghini’s first car, the 350 GTV prototypein the background of the photograph the main structure of the finished factory could already be seen.
In 1966, when the gearbox and differential also began to be manufactured in-house, production, offices, test rooms and a service workshop were housed in the 12,000m2 covered original structure. There were two production assembly lines: one for engines and mechanical parts and another for the assembly of automobiles with auxiliary machinery for the production of parts and tuning of the vehicles. The offices, which spanned 260 meters and were located along the façade and in the center, included the office of the president and the offices of the technical and sales departments. To the right of the building were the test rooms and to the left the customer service workshop and staff rooms. From the beginning, Lamborghini focused on the use of technologically advanced machinery, combining the craftsmanship of workers with the most advanced technology available, a value that remains at the heart of the company’s industrial vision today.
On October 18, 1968, Lamborghini announced the imminent completion of three new industrial buildings, which would add 3,500 m2 of covered area. These were buildings that, in addition to reinforcing the production facilities, would create a modern and well-equipped test department. The photograph that accompanies this press release has become iconic, as it shows, in addition to the apartment under construction, a 400 GT, an Islero, an Espada and two Miuras.
Production went from 67 Lamborghinis built in 1965 to 425 in 1971, falling to 55 in 1979 due to the economic crisis of the 1970s. The 1980s marked a resumption of production, reaching 470 cars produced in 1987 along with 300 marine engines.
In 1983, Lamborghini first initiated the development and use of carbon fiber. The new department of “Esperienza Materiali Compositi” (known as E.Co), was created thanks to the arrival of technical knowledge from Seattle that developed from the first carbon fiber and Kevlar components of the Boeing 767. It was created the first prototype carbon fiber chassis of the Countach Evoluzione: it was Lamborghini’s first use of composite materials and an absolute first for such a project for a road car.
The Sant’Agata Bolognese plant celebrates 60 years of history
In 1990, the necessary equipment for research, development and testing was acquired. in the field of electronic systems and new composite materials. An emissions control systems testing and development workshop was also created, which allowed this process to be managed directly in the company from then on.
Upon joining Audi in 1998, Lamborghini’s speed of development grew exponentially, as did the number of cars produced and the number of employees. In the year 2000, Lamborghini produced 296 cars and employed 440 people.; In 2001, the renovation of the headquarters was completed, the first in many years, which involved the construction of a new office building, a two-story museum and a new research and development area, as well as investment in production lines. assembly and a dining room that were completed in August 2001 for a total of 155 million euros.
On October 25, 2002, the opening of the Lamborghini Centro Stile was announced for late spring 2003, on the occasion of the company’s 40th anniversary. The center would open within a designated area of a new building that would house customer service, the center dedicated to Lamborghini classic cars and the marine engine sector. In 2003, the company was experiencing rapid growth, occupying an area of 100,000 m2, of which 28,900 m2 were covered, producing 1,305 cars, and with 624 employees, 145 of whom worked in research and development. In 2006, with an impressive growth of +30.4% over the previous year, 2,087 cars were produced.
In November 2008, work began on the expansion of the Finishing department, an area dedicated to the final inspections of the cars leaving the assembly line; The new integrated logistics platform was inaugurated in October, now located within the Sant’Agata Bolognese facilities in a new purpose-built building. The new logistics center occupies 11,000 m2 and guarantees space for 14,052 pallets.
In 2011, the new Aventador LP 700-4 was launched, equipped with an innovative carbon fiber monocoque entirely designed and manufactured in Sant’Agata Bolognese. For the 100% carbon fiber bodywork of the Aventador, Lamborghini opted for full in-house production and launched “CFK – Lamborghini Carbon Production”, further strengthening Lamborghini’s leadership in the supercar sector for production and development of composite materials, which continues today.
In 2011 the Lamborghini Park was also inaugurated, which today allows the company to advance in two of its most important projects in terms of sustainability and research on local environmental impact: biomonitoring with bees; and the experimental study on biodiversity and CO2 capture in the oak forest, carried out in collaboration with the Municipality of Sant’Agata Bolognese and the universities of Bologna, Bolzano and Munich.
In 2012 it was built a completely new building which houses the development of prototypes (protoshop) and the pre-series center: the first industrial building of several floors of energy class A and N-ZEB (building of net zero emissions) in Italy.
In 2015, Automobili Lamborghini inaugurated its new trigeneration and district heating systems, two of the main projects that led the company from Sant’Agata Bolognese to obtain CO2 neutrality certification for the entire plant. The event celebrated the achievement of a key objective of Lamborghini’s environmental sustainability strategy, started a few years earlier and which continues today.
In 2018 the third model arrived, the Super SUV Urus, with a production in Sant’Agata Bolognese strongly defended by Stephan Winkelmann, CEO and President of Automobili Lamborghini. Backed by a historic protocol with the Italian Government and the Emilia-Romagna region that supports a renaissance in the “terra dei motori” region, the factory increased its covered area to 160,000 m2.
The new production plant in Sant’Agata Bolognese houses the new assembly line dedicated entirely to the Urus, the new finishing department for all Lamborghini models and the new office building LEED Platinum Certified: the world’s highest standard for energy and environmental certification in building design and construction. A new test track has also been built, with thirteen different surfaces especially for SUVs, as well as a new logistics warehouse, a second trigeneration power plant and the new “Energy Hub” for the centralized production of all energy vectors. The “Manifattura Lamborghini” production model was developed, which brings an innovative and sustainable approach by combining craftsmanship with the most advanced technologies.
Today, Automobili Lamborghini is a world-renowned company, with more than 2,000 employees and 9,233 cars delivered in 2022.
In 2019 the Urus painting plant was inaugurated and, since 2020, the bodywork supply chain is more sustainable thanks to transport by rail instead of road, achieving a CO2 reduction of 85%. This sustainability is not limited solely to the protection of the environment that surrounds us, but over the years the company’s commitment will continue on several fronts with the people and the community in which it operates, as part of its ever more widespread social responsibility.
In May 2021, Stephan Winkelmann announced the “Cor Tauri Management” program, an ambitious plan that will see Lamborghini electrify the entire product range in 2023-2024, with the introduction of a fully electric model at the end of the decade. These are significant steps within the broad decarbonization program, which is part of the company’s comprehensive approach to its sustainability strategy, as it works to continually reduce the impact not only of the production site, but of the entire value chain.
The long entrance façade, part of the original 1963 construction, with the proud Lamborghini sign on the roof, remains today the most visible part of the company, the banner of a structure that has evolved over the years but whose DNA remains the same, always with an eye on the future.