Lamborghini could very well be the antithesis of the green car movement. Their cars burn just about everything they can, including prodigious amounts of fossil fuels and vulcanized rubber, to say nothing of our ear-drums. And the company's CEO says he has no intention of changing that, nor that he should.

In an interview conducted while the newest Gallardo LP560-4 was being demonstrated at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Stephan Winkelmann re-opened a big can of proverbial worms. Justifying that because his company sells so few cars (it sold 2,604 vehicles last year, more than any year before) and that those cars accumulate such low mileage (most owners keep them in climate-controlled garages and only take them out on leap years), Winkelmann recognized that his company will "have to see about the social acceptance of super sports cars like ours," but that Lamborghini "will never reach the emissions that are asked for." In tangible terms, Winkelmann makes a point. The question remains whether, in our worsening environmental and geo-economic situation, cars like his can should be banned altogether or whether there is room for exemptions.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

As Europe imposes stiffer emissions standards, the famous bulls of Lamborghini may be shut out of their own countries. Lambo's boss, Stephan Winkelmann, told reporters at the Geneva Motor Show that the Murcielago LP640 Roadster (shown) and new Gallardo Superleggera (just introduced at Geneva) will not fall in line with the EU's CO2 limitations that go into effect in 2012. The 500-horsepower Lamborghinis currently meet the emissions standards for every country in which they are sold. But the expensive supercars are also on everyone's list of worst gas hogs and worst polluters. Could some green activist group make Lamborghini their next poster child to fight global warming? Winkelmann counters that Lamborghinis are driven only a few thousand miles a year at most, and family sedans end up polluting more when all the math is done.

[Source: Associated Press via Kiplinger]