Bangalore: Volkswagen is looking at options for its luxury brand Lamborghini, including a sale or stock listing, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Chief executive Herbert Diess in March said Volkswagen was reviewing its portfolio of brands, which also include Ducati and Bentley, and whether to divest some non-core businesses.

Last month, Diess said the company was working to free up resources for the development and mass production of electric cars.

Volkswagen is readying to fold Lamborghini into a separate legal entity, in a process that may wind up toward the end of next year, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.

The company was not immediately available for a comment outside business hours.

Diess plans to focus future expansion on the group’s main global brands — VW, Porsche and Audi — in a push to channel resources more efficiently and avoid duplicated efforts.

Volkswagen had aggressively expanded under the leadership of Ferdinand Piech, who was CEO and chairman between 1993 and 2015, acquiring Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini in a single year.

Lamborghini’s stretch from supercars to roomier sport utility vehicles probably has helped boost its valuation to about $11 billion, making it a viable candidate for an initial public offering, analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence estimated in August, the report said. Sales of the Urus SUV have soared since its introduction in mid-2018. Reuters

A redesigned Aventador and new hybrid supercar slated to hit the market next year may help boost margins beyond 30 per cent, BI’s Michael Dean and Gillian Davis wrote in a report. Reuters