Lamborghini splurges $ 2.4 billion to electrify its supercars
Lamborghini is the latest supercar maker to switch from screaming V-12 combustion engines to electric.
The Italian brand Volkswagen said on Tuesday that by 2024 it will offer plug-in hybrid versions of every model in its lineup – from the best-selling Urus SUV to the track-suitable Aventador – with the first arrival in two years. Lamborghini will also launch its first battery-powered vehicle in the second half of the decade, CEO Stephan Winkelmann said.
Go electric: Lamborghini will offer plug-in hybrid versions of its Aventador SVJ Roadster within three years.Credit:Lamborghini
The brand will spend 1.5 billion euros ($ 2.4 billion) to develop the new fleet which, from 2025, will halve emissions across the entire product line, Winkelmann said in a statement. interview. The expense will be the biggest investment ever for Lamborghini.
“Reducing CO₂ emissions is interesting for big brands in the automotive industry, but it’s even more difficult and even more impactful for a manufacturer of super-sports cars like Lamborghini,” said Winkelmann. “You have to cut emissions, but on the other hand, you definitely have to remain a performance-driven super sports car maker. So it’s a big challenge for us. In a very simple way, you have to change everything in order not to change anything. “
The VW Group, Europe’s largest automaker, considered a possible sale or listing of Lamborghini under the leadership of CEO Herbert Diess to focus on its eponymous brand and the Audi and Porsche divisions, but deliberations failed to secure the support from key stakeholders. Now the goal is to sketch out a strategy for Lamborghini that matches VW’s push into electric cars powered by batteries and software stacks that can challenge Tesla.
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Lamborghini “remains a hidden gem” with a brand value of up to 10 billion euros, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michael Dean said in a report last week. While the automaker presented a concept for a hybrid dubbed the Asterion at the Paris auto show in 2014, it has remained largely discreet since then on concrete plans to plug batteries into its low-slung performance vehicles.
Winkelmann said the all-electric model will likely have four seats and two doors, although the vehicle’s configuration has not been finalized. “We are already working on this next step,” he said.
The Sant’Agata Bolognese-based brand, near Archivist Ferrari’s headquarters outside Modena, delivered a record number of vehicles in the first quarter, an increase of almost 25% from a year ago . Revenue increased 5.4% to 509 million euros. VW’s Audi division subsidiary does not publish detailed earnings results.