Lamborghini is one of the world’s most iconic car brands, globally known for its bold design, luxury, and performance. However, fewer people may be familiar with the brand’s history and the culture of innovation that has driven its success. By understanding Lamborghini’s journey, companies in all industries can glean valuable lessons on how to foster innovation.
The Origins of Lamborghini
Lamborghini’s history begins not at the forefront of automotive engineering but in grape vineyards in Northern Italy. Ferruccio Lamborghini, the founder of the company that bears his name, was born into a farming family in Cento. Rather than being drawn to farming life, however, his great passion was taking apart farm equipment and rebuilding it.
This skill led him to begin designing and building tractors and other equipment. Over time, the combination of his engineering and business ability led him to become financially successful. As his business success grew, he began to purchase sports cars. One of the cars he purchased was made by an important sportscar manufacturer in Italy at that time – Ferrari.
The Birth of the Lamborghini Sportscar
Lamborghini discovered several drawbacks with the Ferrari car he purchased. He found that the Ferrari was essentially a racing car repurposed for road use, but it was too noisy and had problems with its clutch. He brought these issues to Ferrari’s attention and was famously told that he should “stick to making tractors and let Ferrari stick to making cars.”
Lamborghini did not stick to making tractors and soon developed a car that would not only compete successfully with Ferrari but become one of the most iconic sportscars in history. For companies that want to be more innovative, there are several lessons that can be drawn from Lamborghini’s history and culture.
Draw Inspiration from the Problem
One of a company’s greatest potential sources of innovation is the problems and challenges it faces. Apart from being obstacles to business efficiency and growth, problems can also point to a different way of thinking about how something can be done. Lamborghini’s dissatisfaction with the Ferrari, and in particular the Ferrari’s clutch, led him to build something better. If it had not been for this problem, the Lamborghini may not have ever been built.
All companies face challenges, either in their company or in the industry they operate in. These challenges can be operational, communicational, or financial. Rather than seeing these problems as only negative and not having any business value, they should be viewed as an asset that can guide a company towards a business solution that can have a significant impact on the market and help a company significantly increase its value.
Create a Firmwide Culture of Innovation
Business performance is a direct reflection of firm culture. While innovation is often viewed as the effort of a single person or a specific department, it can come from anywhere within an organization.
Factors that impact how innovative a firm’s culture is include:
- how firm challenges are defined and approached
- who is included in the innovation process
- what innovation training firms offer
- the degree to which being innovative is part of a department or an individual employee’s KPIs
- whether innovation efforts that are unsuccessful are treated as an individual failure or part of a larger learning process that benefits everyone.
Innovation can come from anywhere within an organization.
Since its inception, Lamborghini has had a culture of expanding design and performance boundaries. The pursuit of perfection in automotive design, power, and handling has encouraged the development of groundbreaking technologies, like the mid-engine layout in the Miura, which set a new benchmark for handling in supercars.
Companies can incorporate innovation into their firm culture by viewing innovation as a problem-solving tool that everyone in the firm can use to recast challenges as growth opportunities and improve business performance. This means:
- people throughout the organization should be encouraged to be innovative
- there should be a structured process for considering whether proposed innovations will solve the problem and are technically and financially feasible
- there should be a clearly designed pathway for testing and implementing proposed innovations; and
- there should be a process for reviewing innovation efforts and making improvements to it.
If innovations are not green-lighted, either for technological or financial reasons, people should be encouraged to try again. An article regarding innovation culture is here.
Use Multiple Innovation Pathways
There are many approaches to innovation. One of the most common approaches is functionality-driven innovation, which is an attempt to fix an issue that prevents a product from functioning optimally. Another approach is design-driven innovation. This is an approach where an effort is made to create a product or a feature that accommodates a specific design requirement.
An example of design-driven innovation is the development of Lamborghini’s iconic scissor doors, which were first introduced with the Countach. These doors were developed to address the need to accommodate the car’s wide frame in tight spaces. In addition to resolving a specific design issue, the scissor door also reinforced Lamborghini’s futuristic, radical design.
Companies can incorporate Lamborghini’s approach by not only focusing on functional inefficiencies to make a product work better but rather advancing a product design to create, for example, an improved customer experience. An example of a design-driven innovation would be a change to a smartphone keyboard so that they are easier to type on.
Look Across Industry Lines for Solutions
Problems are often difficult to solve with materials that are close at hand. If that was an easy solution path, many problems would be very easy to solve. Often, solutions can come from seemingly unrelated places. In the case of Lamborghini, the inspiration for the solution came from the clutch designed for a tractor, which would seem to have little to do with a sportscar. Yet, this was the innovation that created the Lamborghini’s development path.
Though Lamborghini is less involved in motorsports than Ferrari, it has frequently drawn inspiration from the racing world. Technologies like lightweight carbon fiber chassis, advanced suspension systems, and aerodynamics that were first tested in racing applications have been incorporated into Lamborghini’s road cars. This philosophy was evident with the use of carbon fiber in the Countach Evoluzione and the introduction of active aerodynamics in the Huracán Performante.
Companies can adopt this approach by becoming aware of trends and approaches in their own and related industries and experimenting with incorporating those approaches into their own innovation efforts. These solutions can come from very unexpected places. Steve Jobs, for example, has said that a class he took on calligraphy influenced his views regarding typography and design.
Create Partnerships to Access Other Technology
The process of innovation can take a long time. It can take years to develop an idea and then test, revise, and implement it. This approach can be greatly accelerated through alliances or relationships with other companies.
Access to other technology has been key to Lamborghini’s innovation pathway. After Lamborghini became part of the Volkswagen Group in 1998, the company gained access to cutting-edge resources and R&D capabilities. Audi’s influence helped Lamborghini modernize its production processes and improve its engineering without losing its identity as a high-performance, exclusive brand. Audi’s focus on advanced technology facilitated Lamborghini’s adoption of all-wheel-drive systems and hybridization, as seen in the Sian. Lamborghini also drives innovation through its relationships with leading universities as part of its Terzo Millenio program.
Companies can adopt this approach by not only relying on their own innovative efforts, but also seeking to create partnerships with other companies that also have unique technology or even unique perspectives regarding how technology can significantly drive a company’s innovation. This can greatly accelerate company innovation and value creation.
Draw Inspiration from Competition
There is an old saying that “necessity is the mother of invention.” In today’s often crowded markets, one of the most important innovation drivers is competition. In the battle for engaging with and retaining clients, companies continually look for ways to offer better products and services at lower prices. This often requires constant improvement.
Competition is one of the most important innovation drivers.
From the very beginning of its operations, Lamborghini faced very strong competition from Ferrari, which pushed the company to become more innovative. For example, the adoption of the mid-engine layout for the Miura came as an answer to Ferrari’s front-engine GT cars, giving Lamborghini a distinct handling advantage.
The lesson companies can draw from this is not to try to avoid competitive threats but rather to meet them head-on and try to surpass competitor product and service offerings.
Combine History with the Future
Innovation does not necessarily only require the creation of something completely new. It can arise from including existing technologies, practices, and ideas that exist both inside and outside the company and incorporate them into something different.
History is often at the forefront of innovation.
This balanced approach to innovation can be seen with Lamborghini. While Lamborghini continues to respect key elements of its design and performance heritage, it has also adopted new technological advancements, such as hybrid and electrification trends. Lamborghini’s first all-electric vehicle, the Lanzador EV, is scheduled to enter into production in 2028. Lamborghini unveils its first electric car, the Lanzador EV Regarding the Lanzador EV, Lamborghini’s President, Stephan Winkelmann, said “With Lanzador we are looking into our future without forgetting our DNA.”
Every company has a history and this makes up a key part of its DNA. And if a company is just starting out, its founders have experiences and influences from which they can draw. These elements of a company’s, its founders or its employees’ experience should not be seen as antithetical to innovation but rather a core innovation component. An article on how tradition can be balanced with innovation is here.
Key Article Points
- Since its inception, Lamborghini has been defined by a strong culture of innovation.
- Rather than a single source or approach, innovation at Lamborghini is driven by multiple factors, including competition, respect for tradition, and looking across industry lines to adopt other technologies,
- By taking a 360-degree approach to innovation, companies can significantly strengthen their innovation potential.
Special thanks to Nathalie Pinto Van Sint Jan for sharing the Lamborghini story.