Lamborghini Almost Sold Out for the Year After “Revenge Spending”
After a strained 2020, Lamborghini is reporting that the brand is almost sold out across the board for 2021. While most brands saw slow sales through 2020, Lamborghini is having a record-breaking start to 2021. With the release of the Huracán and Urus SUV, it seems buyers are emerging from the spending slowdown that dampened the mood for most of last year. What else has the brand been up to lately?
How many Lamborghinis are sold a year?
Lamborghini sold about 7,430 vehicles worldwide last year. However, things are looking up for 2021. Lamborghini Chief Executive Officer Stephan Winkelmann reported to Bloomberg that Lamborghini has sold out about 10 months of production capacity. Deliveries were up by almost 25% for the first quarter of the year. Winkelmann also noted that Lamborghini had its second-best year despite the company shutting down production for two months during 2020. In the first quarter, the brand increased revenue by 5.4% to $615,915 million during the first quarter.
The new Huracán has been making quite a splash in the industry. The Lamborghini recently released the Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 to compete in the Super Trofeo Race. A few variations of the Huracán seem to be capturing a lot of interest on the market. In addition to the Huracán, the Urus SUV has also captured attention on the market. Lamborghini was at the Milano Monza Motor Show in Milan this week and showcased the Huracán STO and a few other models.
Lamborghini’s focus on electric vehicles
While buyers are obviously not shying away from the gasoline-powered lineup, the brand has started shifting its focus to the electric future. Lamborghini is spending $1.8 billion to offer plug-in hybrid options of each model in the lineup by 2024. It also has plans to launch a battery-powered vehicle sometime after that. Brands like Ferrari and Lamborghini have been apprehensive about changing to electric vehicles, but it sounds like the change is underway.
“Lamborghini doesn’t want to be the first-mover at all cost. In electrification, we need to choose the right moment, when we think the market is ready and we think we can really be the best.”
Stephan Winkelmann | Bloomberg
At the end of 2020, the Volkswagen group threw around possibly selling Lamborghini to focus more on Audi and Porsche. These two brands are “key profit drivers,” Bloomberg says. Winkelmann noted that the brand was not up for sale and essentially denied the news that there was an offer on the table. Winkelmann says there are no plans in place to sell.
The Urus shells will travel by train to reduce CO2 emissions
Lamborghini started shipping Urus shells by train to certain areas through the Österreichischen Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) Rail Cargo Group, a local paper reported. This is estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by 85% a year. Lamborghini shipped the Urus shells from the Zwickau, Germany Volkswagen headquarters to the headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese. The SUV bodies will exclusively travel by train before further assembly.
The trip will take place weekly, saving 1,903 tons of carbon dioxide. This trip is estimated to take only 48 hours, much faster than the typical transportation option. This is all part of the brand’s plan for “Cor Tauri Management” or Towards Cor Tauri. This is part of the roadmap for the electric future of the brand.