Mitja Borkert: “We never look backwards. We always look ahead”

Lamborghini is about design and performance. Moreover we are about to establish a holistic approach regarding every touch point of design and recognition in front of the customer.

On a global level, our industry is evolving and many new markets are growing in terms of design. I still see that European design is strong because the traditional brands understand very well their DNA, as do brands in America. But now we have new players in China moving towards the levels we have in Europe. There is a bright future for good car design, although there’s always space to improve.

What I see in the market keeps me motivated. I would like to see more diversity in design though and to see every brand moving within its design DNA direction. For me this remains the number one goal for every head of design – to shape and create their design DNA.

Lamborghini is an ambitious brand and has just renewed its entire range with hybrid powertrains – it’s the first supersportscar manufacturer to do so. We started this process with the Revuelto and have continued with Urus SE and completed the mission with the new Temerario. We have also shown how we want to move with full electrification and the Lanzador is the body type we see. We want to have the perfect model line- up. The Lanzador is a new body type and architecture perfectly fitting in terms of proportions into the model range.

We never look backwards. We always look ahead. It will be interesting to see what the future will be after the SUV. But for me, it seems like this is still 10 or 20 years ahead. At Lamborghini we have our unique interpretation we call the ‘super SUV’. The Urus SE is shaped in a very natural and seamless way so it looks sleeker, slimmer and more elegant.

In the beginning I was a bit against artificial intelligence, but I think every designer is already considering it. So far we’re playing around with AI, asking it to create and then defining and creating a complete picture. For me, the designs AI makes are still a bit generic. That will change very soon, but I haven’t seen any car design the system has created yet, where I say, ‘Yes, this could be a proper proposal’. But it’s a good supporting tool for maximising creativity. Holistically-thought through design is much more complex because you think of a future strategy and you rely on a design DNA.

The computer cannot foresee a design DNA of the future. The human brain of the designer needs to be the one having the ideas and I hope this will never change because a computer can only generate what already exists. It’s always mixing existing sunsets with existing pictures, shapes and so on. I have ideas every day. I have a shower in the morning and reflect on things and then maybe have an idea for a completely new car – the human brain will never be substituted. The talents in our business will never be substituted by AI if designers keep the final decision.

If I were a young designer today though, remembering myself at university, AI would be perfect because you can create backgrounds and much more as an ideal base to further the design process. But you need to use it in the right way. Our design DNA is about the silhouette and special architecture of a Lamborghini, but there’s still a lot of creative space for any designer.

We have a fascinating place to work, because there are one- off cars and limited editions and the speed of our design is as fast as our cars. Having a small team with so many projects, talented designers will not have to wait too long to have their designs become reality and start driving around. I’m happy that in the last eight years we have established our design DNA with the maximum freedom to design a Lamborghini that is rather elegant, or still crazy.

The Countach, Lanzador and Urus SE are quite elegant cars. On the other hand, aerodynamic innovation is important for us and we also have customers that love the ‘wings’ and crazy shapes combined with the function. Now we’re able to design cars across this bandwidth.