Lamborghini could be the next supercar marque to be made public, following the likes of Aston Martin and Ferrari.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported on Friday that parent company Volkswagen Group is considering a sale or spinoff of Lamborghini and has initiated the first steps toward turning the brand into a separate legal entity.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung also reported over the weekend that VW CEO Herbert Diess wants to focus on the group's core brands of Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen and reduce the overlap with some others.

“We shouldn’t spread ourselves too thin,” Diess told the German newspaper. “That might be hard in some cases, but it’s the only viable way.”

Herbert Diess

Herbert Diess

VW responded on Sunday with a statement denying plans for a sale or public offering of Lamborghini.

Ferrari was made public in 2015 with an initial market value of $9.8 billion, which has since tripled. Aston Martin's public offering followed in 2018, though the British firm since then has seen its market value drop from an initial $5.6 billion to less than one billion.

Since taking over the reins at VW in early 2018, Diess has made efforts to reduce complexity at the automaker. This has already resulted in a public offering of VW's truck division, Traton, responsible for the Scania and MAN brands. He has also started reviews of some divisions responsible for diesel engines and transmissions, according to Bloomberg.

It's not the first time we've heard that one or more VW brands were up for sale. In May, Automobile reported that the sale of Ducati and Italdesign was already locked in and that the sale of Bentley and Lamborghini was being considered. There's also talk of new directions for VW's SEAT and Skoda brands, which if true would see SEAT become a sporty, upmarket brand similar to Alfa Romeo and Skoda become a value-brand to target Dacia.