Lamborghini Global CEO: The return is for electrification

"Today, Lamborghini's main task is to take the brand into a new dimension, transforming from internal combustion engines to electrification. Lamborghini has always been brave enough to take on challenges, and the whole Lamborghini team, as well as me personally, are ready for this. 2022 is lamborghini's last year to launch models powered by pure internal combustion engines, and from 2023 to 2024, the brand will hybridize all product lines. Recently, Stephan Winkelmann, chairman and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, was interviewed by a reporter from China Business Daily on his performance in fiscal 2021 and market regulation and development in 2022.

Inside Lamborghini, Stephen Winkelmann was always a "reformer". From 2005 to 2016, Steven Winkelmann served as CEO of Lamborghini, where he led lamborghini's launch of the V10 Huracán series, the V12 Aventador series, and several limited edition and specialised models. At the same time, Stephen Winkelmann has vigorously expanded his sales network to maximize market penetration, and actively promoted the brand, launching a series of activities such as the single-car championship and the Lamborghini driving experience.

In the four years since leaving Lamborghini, Stephen Winklemann has served as CEO of Audi GmbH and president of Bugatti Automobiles. In 2020, at a critical point in time for profound changes in the global automotive industry, Stephen Winkelmann returned to Lamborghini with a new mission and set new results in 2021.

Earnings reached a new high in fiscal 2021

Ultra-luxury brands have always been the façade of automotive groups, but they also face the reality of weak profitability. In 2020, when Steven Winkelman returns, the automotive industry is still facing various problems such as supply chain security such as chip shortages, but under pressure, Lamborghini still has the best performance.

Recently, Lamborghini released its fiscal 2021 results, showing that the company's turnover in fiscal 2021 was about 1.95 billion euros, an increase of 19% year-on-year, reaching a record high; operating income of 393 million euros, an increase of 49% compared with 264 million euros in 2020; operating profit margin of 20.2%, more than double compared with 2018, profitability increased to "unprecedented levels", in line with the luxury industry.

In terms of sales, 2021 is also the best year in Lamborghini's history, with 8,405 vehicles delivered worldwide, an increase of 13% over 2020. Among them, the Americas region and the Asia-Pacific region both increased by 14%, the Emea region increased by 12%, and the three regional markets accounted for 34%, 27% and 39% of the overall sales volume, respectively.

"It's very gratifying to be back at Lamborghini again and have such a good result. This is thanks to teamwork and the dedication and passion of all Lamborghini employees to the brand. I hope to continue to achieve good results in the future. In fact, the epidemic has had a serious impact on the economy, but in the second half of 2020, the economy recovered and the supercar market gradually improved. Lamborghini has strong resilience and resilience in the face of crisis, allowing us to achieve the best results in history in 2021. In the coming years, Lamborghini's financial goal is to increase profitability to 22% to 25% to help achieve the largest investment in the history of the brand. Steven Winkelman said.

Stephen Winkelman also said, "Lamborghini has achieved good results for several reasons. First of all, Lamborghini is a brand loved by young people, and many of our customers in China are also very young. After years of hard work, we have made Lamborghini the dream car of many customers; secondly, the purchasing power of the market is well funded. Due to travel restrictions, people have not been able to consume normally for a long time, and even if the restriction policy is slightly relaxed now, it is still difficult to travel freely, but people still expect to return to normal. So, thanks to the overall situation of the strong economic recovery and Lamborghini's strong brand power, we achieved the best results in history in 2021, and this trend is still maintained in 2022. ”

In terms of single-market sales, the United States continued to top the list with 2,472 deliveries, with an increase of 11%, Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau jumped to second place with 935 units delivered, an increase of 55%, and germany and the United Kingdom sold 706 units and 564 units, up 16% and 9%, respectively.

It can be seen that the Chinese market has become the market with the highest growth. So what is Lamborghini's goal in the Chinese market this year? What are the main differences between China and other markets? In this regard, Stephen Winkelmann said, "The Chinese market will once again become lamborghini's second largest single market in 2021 and has great potential for development. At present, given the unknown situation of the entire economic development, we have not quantified the target. China differs from other markets in two main ways. First, Chinese customers are one of our youngest customer groups in the global market, which is very positive; second, China's overall auto market has become the largest market in the world, but China's supercar segment is not the largest. As a result, our opportunities and challenges coexist. ”

He also said, "As Lamborghini's overall customer base and young customers continue to increase, more and more high-net-worth individuals are entering the supercar segment, bringing unlimited potential." At the same time, we are also adjusting our product lineup, not only to bring new products to market, but also to ensure that new products are more attractive than the previous generation. ”

2022 is the last year to launch an internal combustion engine

In people's eyes, return means a certain kind of legendary color. However, in Stephen Winkelman's view, the current task is not much different from the previous one compared to five years ago, and it is all in preparation for the challenges ahead.

Steven Winkelman said that initially, the brand implemented a strategy of two supercar product lines and launched Aventador and Huracán models. Later, in order to stabilize the company to meet the challenges of the future, we decided to introduce a third product line, and the brand became stronger as a result. Urus, like Aventador and Huracán, has pioneered another segment.

He added, "At the time, launching Urus was a big challenge, and there were constant questions about it: Lamborghini was a supercar manufacturer and shouldn't have launched an SUV model. Now, what Urus has created proves that our decision was very correct. Lamborghini doesn't just build supercars, but also the GT models of the 1960s, the two-door, four-seater Espad model, and the LM002, the first SUV model of the 1980s, all belong to the Lamborghini family. ”

It is understood that Lamborghini with the Urus, a distinctive SUV, quickly gained a foothold in the million-level luxury SUV, in 2021 Lamborghini delivered in China of 935 vehicles, Urus accounted for 60%, the annual sales of up to 578 vehicles, sales set a record lamborghini in the Chinese market record high.

"Now, we are preparing to move towards electrification." Facing the interview camera, Stephen Winkelman said firmly. "2022 is the last year for Lamborghini to launch models powered by internal combustion engines. This year, we will launch two Huracán derivatives, as well as two Urus variants. From 2023 to 2024, the brand will hybridize all product lines, starting with the hybrid Aventador successor, followed by plug-in hybrid versions of Urus and Huracán. By 2025, Lamborghini expects to reduce co2 emissions by 50 percent. The first all-electric model is expected to be launched around 2028. ”

Stephen Winkelmann has previously officially announced the "Direzione Cor Tauri" development plan, marking a new chapter in the electrification of the top super luxury sports car brand. According to the official interpretation, Cor Tauri is the brightest star in the Taurus constellation, which represents Lamborghini's journey towards an electrified future while remaining loyal to the heart and soul of the brand.

But for many people, if a supercar loses its roaring engine, it may mean losing its soul, so how can Lamborghini maintain the uniqueness of its brand? In this regard, Stephen Winkelman said that in order to ensure that lamborghini is still regarded as a dream car in the future, the following two things need to be done: first of all, to ensure that the highly subversive and recognizable design can be immediately recognized as a Lamborghini model; secondly, in the electrification transformation, to have better handling performance, performance is a comprehensive embodiment of many aspects, including Lamborghini's unique driving passion.

He concluded by saying that with the launch of the first mass-produced hybrid model next year, lamborghini's efforts will be presented to everyone, and everyone will believe that electrification is a very correct decision. In fact, we have communicated with many Lamborghini customers and fans and learned that they are ready to accept the hybrid model. I am confident that Lamborghini's future transformation path will be successful, and electrification will be an unprecedented step for Lamborghini.