Car Design Review 4 highlights: Mitja Borkert, Lamborghini

To take the next step in terms of design is a great challenge but I’m absolutely not scared. At my previous job with Porsche I worked on a lot of models in Turin, so I have experience of the Italian market and culture. For me, it’s interesting to adapt. I’ve been a big fan of Lamborghini’s legacy for years even when I was working elsewhere.

When I was a young designer I always watched what [earlier design director] Luc Donckerwolke or Walter de Silva was doing and followed every new car. So as a designer this job is a dream come true. Since I arrived in April 2016 we’ve been doing a lot of things I can’t tell you about, but which are really creative. The team is young, motivated and ‘digital’. It’s a great pleasure to work with them and, I hope, for them to work with me. I’m trying to be like a football coach: we want to have a good vibe in the studio, because I believe this approach results in the best creative outcomes.”

This time might be the biggest change for Lamborghini. We are starting to redefine the organisation. Before there was just one central design studio but in 2017 I want there to be a separate exterior and interior department. Later this year we will present our new Urus SUV, so we are working hard to finish this project. After that, the brand will have three completely different models. So for the design studio we need to adapt as the company grows. All our designers are able to use all the tools from pencil to 3D modelling and finally also video and VR. Lamborghini is very small but very successful. 2016 was another record year, up to 3457 units.

We have designers from all over the place, but it’s very ‘southern’. There are guys from Argentina, Portugal, Bulgaria, Croatia, China – one German, me! – but half of them are Italian. In the future I’m looking to stay on the Italian side of things as we are in Italy, with one team in Turin and another in Sant’Agata. I want to have that Italian flavour in everything we do. We are all diehard Lamborghini fans so there is an unbelievable team spirit. I didn’t feel this anywhere else and personally, I can tell you I’m having the most creative period of my life.

Lamborghini is extreme, but extreme design doesn’t necessarily mean complicated shapes: it could be extreme in proportions, so when you see a Lamborghini in the street it should be the widest and the lowest. Our design language was originally initiated on the [1966] Miura that redefined the sports car segment. That car was quite pure and clean with few lines. But also within Lamborghini’s heritage, cars like the Reventón or the Centenario are much more futuristic. This is an expectation of some of our customers so for me, Lamborghini can have many, many expressions.

I do believe the car in general will change in the future due to autonomous driving and electrification, but I also think 3D printing and manufacturing will open a completely new chapter. Lamborghini will adapt to things in a Lamborghini way. We are here to keep the brand alive so it is our task to find the ideas for the future. I am paid to imagine everything and have folders full of ideas. If I told you I couldn’t imagine what you suggested [an electric Lamborghini] I would be in the wrong position. [But] for sure the combustion engine and the V12 will live on. This is also part of our character.

I have plenty of interns and we are constantly looking for new talent. I see a lot of CVs, with sketches of possible Lamborghini designs, but to find the guy that will perfectly fit into our team is not so easy. I don’t want divas. I am really careful to keep our team very small so it fits well. I need character and talent – they are of the same importance. The portfolios I receive are mainly male but there are absolutely no obstacles for female designers here. Between three to five percent of our current customers are female and the Urus could change that, because the SUV segment in general is more attractive to female customers compared to the super-sports car.

On average, the Lamborghini customer is 10 years younger than our main competitors. We are thinking about many different directions and doing a million physical models. Maybe Lamborghini has never seen so many. At the moment, we are really full of ideas.

Car Design Review 4 contains the best concept and production cars of the year, as chosen by the world’s leading designers, trends, student work, and much more.

Mitija Borkert: Biography

Role: Design director, Lamborghini
Age/nationality: 43, German
Location: Sant’Agata, Italy
Education: Pforzheim, Germany