Lamborghini is gearing up for the final lap of combustion engines powering coveted models like the Aventador as the sports-car maker switches its lineup to plug-in hybrids.
The Volkswagen AG brand with the track-focused Aventador, Huracan and Urus SUV models will unveil its first production car with a plug next year before electrifying its full offering by 2024. For this year, Lamborghini has almost sold out its entire production run following record deliveries during 2021, according to Chief Executive Officer Stephan Winkelmann.
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“It will be the last time that we only offer combustion engines,” Winkelmann said in an interview. The carmaker has seen a “very good start” to 2022, he said.
Lamborghini has allocated a record 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) for the shift to plug-in hybrids, and plans to offer a purely battery-powered model during the second half of the decade. While supercar brands like Ferrari NV and Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc face an especially delicate task preserving brand identity in the costly shift to electrification, Lamborghini’s future plans are underpinned by VW’s record spending on new technology, a Bloomberg report explains.
The manufacturer is still working on a final design for its first electric car and is leaning toward a four-door model suited for daily use, Winkelmann said.
Lamborghini is set for earnings before interest and tax margins approaching 20% for 2021, according to an investor presentation. That compares to returns of just over 25% during the first nine months of last year for Ferrari. Full-year earnings, due to be reported in March, should be “in a range that surprises everyone,” he said. “Surprising to everyone in a positive sense.”
Earlier this month, Volkswagen and German multinational engineering and technology company Bosch agreed to set up a joint venture by the end of 2022 to equip battery cell factories and help make Europe self-sufficient in battery production. According to a Reuters report, the JV will deliver battery production systems and assist battery cell manufacturers in scaling up and maintaining production sites.
Carmaker Volkswagen, which last December upped its spending on electrification in the next five years to 52 billion euros, has committed to exclusively selling EVs in Europe from 2035, the Reuters report explains.
(With inputs from Bloomberg and Reuters)
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