Lamborghini sets electrification phase in motion with €1.5b investment

Dubai - The second half of the decade will see the launch of a fully electric car in the Lamborghini lineup

Lamborghini has announced details of its new roadmap towards electrification, which will see the company complete its transition to a fully hybrid model range by the end of 2024, and the launch of a first fully-electric Lamborghini in the second half of the decade.

Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, spoke to the media in Dubai on Thursday, and highlighted how the company has announced a €1.5 billion investment – its largest ever – for ‘Direzione Cor Tauri’, a roadmap towards a more sustainable future. The bulk of this investment will be set aside for the brand’s R&D.

“The biggest challenge worldwide right now revolves around the theme of sustainability,” he said. “The automotive business is one of the central targets of this sustainable approach, and the reduction of CO2 emissions is one of the most difficult targets to achieve.”

Under Cor Tauri, which is the brightest star in the Taurus constellation, Lamborghini has presented a 360 degree approach towards the decarbonization of future Lamborghini models and of the Sant’Agata Bolognese site. Lamborghini will focus continually on identifying technologies and solutions that guarantee top performance and driving dynamics, while remaining true to the marque’s tradition.

“We have divided the next few years into two chapters,” Winkelmann said. “2021 and 2022 is when we will celebrate our internal combustion engine, while 2023 and 2024 is when we will have the whole lineup – the Aventador, Huracán, and Urus – hybridized by the end of 2024. The company’s internal target for this phase is to reduce product CO2 emissions by 50 per cent by the beginning of 2025.”

In the wake of steady sales growth and a seven-fold increase in turnover over the last fifteen years, Lamborghini has established itself as a center of excellence in the production of the best super sports cars. The most recently unveiled, the Sián, kicked off the brand’s electrification journey and is the first Lamborghini featuring hybrid technology. Two new cars in the V12 model line-up will be announced in 2021.

Winkelmann also revealed that the second half of the decade will see the launch of a fully electric car in the Lamborghini lineup. “We have always said that it is not important to be the first to do something, but, when you can, you have to be the best, especially when it comes to such technology.”

Lamborghini’s Sant’Agata Bolognese site will play a key role in the company’s sustainability strategy towards 2030. The 160,000sqm plant achieved CO2 neutral certification in 2015, which was maintained even after the production site was doubled in size in recent years. “If we have to enlarge our current production plant [for the production of the fully electric line up], we have the means to do so, because we want to keep Sant’Agata as our HQ and because it is central to the ‘Made in Italy’ brand,” Winkelmann said.

Looking back at the Covid-19 pandemic and how it impacted the automotive industry, he revealed that, despite the pandemic, 2020 was Lamborghini’s “second best year ever.” He also added that the Middle East market was not as “tough” as other markets during the pandemic.

“We had a very good run with all our cars worldwide, and we have an order bank that covers more than nine months of production, so this is very healthy for a company like ours,” he said. “The Middle East is market number six for us, in terms of size, and the region includes Oman, the UAE, Qatar, KSA, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Bahrain. The biggest market, today, is the UAE, and the biggest potential market for us is Saudi Arabia.”

Winkelmann also said that the brand has had a “very good run” so far and that “with the opportunities presented, 2021 will be a year to remember.”

rohma@khaleejtimes.com