Accelerating the electrification process In the future, the focus will be on China's third- and fourth-tier cities

"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 the Lamborghini team of engineers is to provide system solutions 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. In view of the sales expectations for 2021 and 2022, the strategic layout of the future Chinese market and the electrification strategy of Lamborghini, Francisco Skadani elaborated 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.

Another sales record will be set in 2021

China Business Daily: What has been the sales trend of Lamborghini in recent years? What are the supports behind this achievement?

Francisco Skadani: As of 2019, Lamborghini has set sales records for nine consecutive years. In 2020, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the Lamborghini plant was shut down for three months, resulting in a slight decline in vehicle deliveries. However, in 2020, our order volume in the Chinese market is twice 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 set a record again.

There are four main reasons why we can continue to achieve such 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 it had a specific impact on Lamborghini, and how does Lamborghini solve it?

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 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.

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 Cardani: 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, character and fashion taste.

China Business Daily: 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 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 a good economic outlook on the one hand, and a high-net-worth population that 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.

Towards electrification

China Business Daily: How is Lamborghini's electrification transformation process?

Francisco Skadani: We are fully committed to following the electric development path of "Towards the Heart of Taurus". In support of its 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 over four years to achieve this goal.

Lamborghini pays great attention to the development of digital and intelligent technologies and has effectively adopted new digital technologies in 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.

China Business Daily: Engines are 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, Lamborghini believes that where are the advantages of its electrified products?

Francisco Skadani: Our strength is first and foremost that Lamborghini sticks to the DNA of the brand, we don't go with the flow, and we 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? What is the greatest value of a super luxury sports car brand?

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, which are the most important pillars of our success as a supercar brand.