Coronavirus: Sports-car maker Lamborghini starts production of masks
Italian sports-car maker Automobili Lamborghini is converting departments of its super sports car production plant in Sant’Agata Bolognese in order to produce surgical masks and protective plexiglass shields. The masks will be donated to the Sant’Orsola-Malpighi Hospital in Bologna to be used in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Work on this solidarity initiative will be carried out by personnel of the saddlery that produce the interiors and specialty customisation for Lamborghini cars, producing 1,000 masks a day. The medical shields will be realised in 200 units a day, using 3D printers within the carbon fibre production plant and the Research and Development department.
The activity has been approved and supported by the Emilia-Romagna Region, and is taking place in collaboration with the University of Bologna. The Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences will oversee validation testing of the medical devices made by Lamborghini, prior to their delivery to hospital.
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Italy's coronavirus death toll shot past 12,000 this week and showed few sign of slowing down. Italy, which has the pandemic’s highest death toll, is set to extend drastic containment measures until mid-April.
Stefano Domenicali, Chairman and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, comments: “During this emergency, we feel the need to make a concrete contribution. The S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital is an institution with which we have had a collaborative relationship for years, through both professional consultancy in promoting programs to protect our workers’ health, and in research projects. We will win this battle together by working in union, supporting those who are at the forefront of fighting this pandemic every day."
Lamborghini has achieved its best-ever results across the board in 2019 by registering a rise of 43% sales. The Italian super sports car producer outperformed all previous key business benchmarks: sales, turnover and profitability achieved levels unprecedented in the 56-year history of the brand.
However, the celebration of this success from 2019 is clearly overshadowed by the significance and uncertainties of the worldwide spread of the Coronavirus, an exceptional situation giving arise to enormous challenges for the entire world in 2020. The company said it is still too early to give a detailed forecast of impacts on business development in 2020.
