Interview with the head of Lamborghini Pacific: Adhere to the unique personality of the brand while steadily moving towards electrification

"Our biggest strength is that we always uphold the DNA of the Lamborghini brand, we don't go with the flow, but we dare to innovate. At present, the most important challenge facing lamborghini's team of engineers is to provide a systematic solution for new models, and the future electric models should be a new car with both electric performance and driving passion. More importantly, when a customer sits in a Lamborghini blindfolded, they can feel through their own feelings and find that it is a Lamborghini. ”

Recently, at the volkswagen group headquarters in Beijing, Francesco Scardaoni, head of the Asia-Pacific region of Lamborghini Automobile Company, was interviewed by a reporter from China Business Daily. For the sales forecasts for 2021 and 2022, the strategic layout of the future Chinese market and Lamborghini's electrification strategy, Francisco Skadani explained in detail to reporters.

At present, the automotive industry is facing the challenge of the new four modernizations, many ultra-luxury brands have announced their own electric strategy, facing increasingly stringent carbon emission policies and industry changes, Lamborghini although also announced the start of their own electric journey, but does not seem to be in a hurry. "We always adhere to the principle of not seeking the earliest, but seeking the best." Francisco Skadani told reporters. In his view, the long-inherited brand culture is Lamborghini's greatest wealth, so emphasizing and adhering to its own personality and culture is the key factor for ultra-luxury brands to be stable and far-reaching in the torrent of history.

Full-year 2021 sales are record

China Business Daily: What has been the sales trend of Lamborghini in recent years?

Francisco Skadani: As of 2019, Lamborghini has set sales records for 9 consecutive years. In 2020, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the Lamborghini plant was shut down for 3 months, resulting in a slight decline in vehicle deliveries. However, in 2020, the number of orders we have in the Chinese market is 2 times that of 2019, and all the orders received in 2020 will begin to be delivered in 2021, so the sales performance in 2021 is more eye-catching and has once again set a record.

"China Business Daily": Lamborghini's sales in 2021 hit a record high, why can Lamborghini achieve a steady rise?

Francisco Skadani: There are four main reasons why we continue to achieve this kind of sales.

First, Lamborghini continues to introduce innovative models in terms of design and technology. In 2017, we launched the Urus super SUV, which combines supercar performance with the comfort of an SUV, and the Aventador, launched in 2011, which used the technology that could only be used on the top sports cars to the production model. Therefore, we continue to redefine new automotive segments and continue to lead the new trend.

Second, in terms of market strategy, we patiently listen to the needs of our customers in order to fully meet them. In the Chinese market, for example, our customers have expressed a preference for smaller events and more cultural experiences, as well as the opportunity to interact with other Lamborghini customers, so in 2015, we launched our first Lamborghini China Cruise. In 2020, due to the outbreak of the epidemic, many offline activities could not be sustained, and Lamborghini also responded quickly, turning many market strategies into online strategies, and still maintaining close communication with customers.

Third, the continuous refinement of the dealer network. In 2022, we will open three new showrooms in Suzhou, Wenzhou and Tianjin, China, and will be closer and closer to customers everywhere.

Fourth, Lamborghini's professional after-sales service. Whether it is a team of technicians or an after-sales team, the owner can enjoy the excellent service of Lamborghini during the entire period of car ownership.

China Business Daily: The lack of cores has had a great impact on the global automotive industry, has there been any specific impact on Lamborghini? How is Lamborghini solved?

Francisco Skadani: At present, the global automotive industry is facing not only a shortage of chips, but also a shortage of other components, but this has not affected the production of Lamborghini, and our factory is still producing at full speed. This is mainly due to the long-term partnerships between Lamborghini and major suppliers. In general, we share our Lamborghini production plan with them in advance, and suppliers can plan their production capacity accordingly. So, so far, the lack of cores has not affected us.

In the future, we will focus on China's third- and fourth-tier cities

"China Business Daily": Urus this model has achieved a good response in the market, what is its customer base? Why can the Urus become a more important model in the Chinese market? You have also predicted that the Chinese market will become the main market of Urus, what is the basis for this prediction?

Francisco Skadani: In 2021, China is expected to once again become Lamborghini's second largest single market in the world. Of course, it's not just the Urus model that has been successful. It is believed that in the future, the Chinese market will develop better and better, and its important position will be further consolidated.

The reason why Urus has achieved good results in China is that as a pure Lamborghini, it is very good in terms of design, performance and comfort. Comfort here mainly refers to the number of seats. In the past, many customers have been slow to make up their minds to buy Lamborghini supercars because supercars have only one seat in addition to the driver's seat. With the advent of Urus, the first Lamborghini model with the characteristics of supercar driving passion, dynamic driving experience and SUV spaciousness and comfort has appeared on the market, which can allow car owners to travel with family and friends, greatly expanding lamborghini's customer base.

Today, Urus' customers have many successful entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs, both men and women, and are happy to use it as a commuter car. Because Urus has a large space, you can also bring some sports equipment, such as golf. So if a client wants to play after work, or just put their luggage on vacation, it's convenient.

All in all, we feel that the reason for the success of the Urus is its flexibility and versatility, which can be used on daily commutes and at the same time, and the driving passion of supercars.

China Business Daily: In recent years, what is the difference between the demand for sports cars in China and other countries such as Europe and the United States?

Francisco Skadani: In recent years, China's customer base has become more and more mature, and they are more and more willing to design and customize their own models. Many customers prefer to use Lamborghini Ad Personam's premium personalisation service to create a unique car that matches their personal style, idiosyncrasies and fashion tastes.

China Business Daily: How many Lamborghini dealers are in China now? How do you view China's sinking market? Do these third- and fourth-tier cities mean new growth points for Lamborghini?

Francisco Skadani: At present, there are 20 distributors in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, mainly distributed in first-tier, second-tier and a small number of third-tier cities. Now, we are slowly expanding into third-tier cities. Because Chinese distribution is more dispersed, it is not easy to refine the distribution network and establish a closer relationship with all customers. Therefore, we will carefully select the city where the dealer showroom will be opened.

The target city needs to have good economic prospects on the one hand, and high-net-worth individuals who can become our potential customers on the other hand. Therefore, we are also very concerned about the government's support policies, hoping to provide a reference for subsequent city choices. Now we focus on third- and fourth-tier cities, hoping to be closer to customers and bring services to more customers.

China Business Daily: At present, there are many new luxury electric brands in the Chinese market, and these brands have many advantages in Internet user operation and digital intelligent technology. In the face of automotive reform, will Lamborghini have a plan in these areas?

Francisco Skadani: Lamborghini pays great attention to the development of digital and intelligent technologies and has effectively adopted new digital technologies in its research and development, especially connected technologies. Urus is a connected model in China, and we are very happy to choose a local technology supply partner in China, and at present, our navigation system uses the services of AutoNavi, a local Supplier in China. In terms of car interconnection, China is currently the most advanced country in the world, and Chinese customers have very high requirements for interconnection, so we believe that cooperation with local partners is a wise choice.

Towards electrification

China Business Daily: Lamborghini is accelerating its transition to electric. To this end, will Lamborghini make a shift in the existing financial, technical, organizational structure? What are we doing to prepare for electrification so far? How will these plans be implemented in the future?

Francisco Skadani: We are fully committed to following the electric development path of "Towards the Heart of Taurus". In order to support the commitment to reduce emissions – by 50% reduction in CO2 emissions from its products by early 2025 – Lamborghini has made its largest investment ever: more than 1.5 billion euros in four years to achieve this goal.

Before the public announcement of electric plans in May 2021, Lamborghini had already taken a step forward in decarbonization. In 2015, our factory achieved carbon neutrality and established the Lamborghini Eco Park, making sustainability one of the most important considerations for the company's development. Urus' new production line, for example, now uses more water-based coatings and paints. In terms of human resources, the company is also constantly recruiting technical talents who can support the future development of electrification.

Therefore, whether in terms of capital, research and development or human resources, we actively invest in supporting the company's all-round sustainable development.

China Business Daily: As we all know, the engine is the core competitiveness of Lamborghini supercars, are you worried that electrification will have an impact on your brand and model? At present, many ultra-luxury brands have launched their own electric products and routes, Lamborghini believes that where are the advantages of its electrified products?

Francisco Skadani: Our strength, first of all, lies in Lamborghini's insistence on the DNA of the brand, we do not follow the trend, and we have the courage to innovate.

Second, in terms of electric strategy, we always adhere to the principle of not seeking the earliest, but seeking the best. We believe that every extra day means that Lamborghini has more time to optimize R&D and design, and to explore and innovate more in cutting-edge technologies. Therefore, we believe that in line with the "Towards the Heart of Taurus" plan, we will have enough time to find the most suitable powertrain for the Lamborghini brand before launching the first pure electric model.

Third, we constantly listen to the needs of our customers and understand their expectations. At present, we have done a lot of customer research to fully understand their expectations for electric models.

Fourth, although Lamborghini has announced its electric plans, this does not mean that in the future we will only consider electric technology. We also conduct evaluations and research and development of other technologies, such as synthetic fuels.

China Business Daily: What do you think the future pattern of ultra-luxury car brands will be? As the automotive industry changes, will new brands emerge in the future? What is the future direction of ultra-luxury car brands?

Francisco Skadani: It's true that there will be a lot of changes in the automotive landscape in the future, but I believe it should still be dominated by the current ultra-luxury sports car brands, and there may be a small number of new brands entering this segment. Because the ultra-luxury sports car segment is more special, customers buy not only a car, but also childhood dreams and feelings, so when owners choose, they not only value the product, but also value the history and inheritance of the brand. A successful brand needs to have a history, a successful classic model, and a sufficiently advanced innovative technology.

Lamborghini meets these criteria and has always been one of the most successful supercar brands, with the bold use of state-of-the-art technical solutions. Since its inception, Lamborghini has continuously broken the established rules and definitions of the automotive industry, such as the Miura car launched shortly after the establishment of the company, writing the history of supercars, truly defining the supercars we understand today; subsequently, we have launched many classic models, all of which laid the foundation for lamborghini sports cars that are difficult to replace.