Lamborghini Murcielago successor sneak peek

The Italian company is teasing its fans and potential buyers ahead of the Paris Motor Show at the end of the month with a series of sneak peeks at a new car, most likely the successor to today's Murcielago.

Lamborghini admits it will have a design study at Paris but stops a long way short of linking it to a production car. Still, the Murcielago is coming to the end of its life and Lamborghini is probably showing a potential direction for the car. It is also confirming it is switching focus from outright top speeds beyond 300km/h, a zone now owned by the Bugatti Veyron, and is concentrating on lightweight materials and design.

"We think it is time to make a shift and talk more about handling and acceleration," says Stephan Winkelmann, president of Lamborghini.

"Together with design, handling and acceleration are becoming more important. Speed is not as important anymore, because all super-sportscars are exceeding 300km/h and this is a speed that you cannot reach even on a racetrack, let alone normal roads. The key factor in terms of better handling and acceleration, meaning more immediate pleasure in driving, is the power-to-weight ratio. This is not so much about top speed and so the future will not be so focused on increasing the power, even because CO2 emissions do play a role for supersportscars too. That means the key is in reducing the weight."

Winkelmann says Lamborghini has been working on carbon fibre for more than 30 years and is now ready to inject it into every future model.

"From the middle of the Eighties, the average weight of our cars has increased by 500kg because of active and passive safety, comfort and emissions reduction issues, and this is something that we have to change. Since we cannot reduce safety or comfort in our cars, we have to reduce the weight by using new materials," he says.

But he stops short of confirming anything for the Paris Show, although Lamborghini is expected to continue its teaser picture program in coming weeks.