Lamborghini’s Winning Formula Is Defying An Auto Industry Slump

(Bloomberg) -- Automobili Lamborghini SpA reported record results for the first six months of 2024 as much of the rest of the auto industry struggled with declining sales, lowered expectations and plummeting stock values. 

The Italian supercar maker delivered 5,558 vehicles by the end of June, generating revenue of €1.6 billion ($1.762 billion)—up 14.1% from the same period in 2023—and repairing a slight drop in the US in the first quarter of this year. Operating profit reached a record €458 million compared to the first half of 2023.  

During an earnings interview with Bloomberg on July 18, Chief Executive Officer Stephan Winkelmann credited the company's full order books and healthy distribution worldwide to taking a “balanced” approach when it comes to electric vehicles. That is, harnessing the performance and tangible thrill of internal combustion engines with the reduced emissions provided by hybrid technology, rather than going full speed ahead into EVs. 

“This is something which helps maintain the emotion of driving the car while also giving you a boost when you have to develop power at low revs,” he said.

This strategy has so far allowed Lamborghini to avoid having to walk back EV plans like General Motors Co. and Mercedes-Benz Group AG. The company has generated strong revenue and operating income on the back of just three models: the Urus SUV, the Huracán supercar and the Revuelto hybrid. The US remains the top market for Lamborghinis, with 1,621 vehicles delivered there so far this year, followed by Germany (595); the UK (514); Japan (354); mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau (337); and Italy (268).

Order books on the company's three models remain full, with the anticipated wait for a Revuelto projected at more than two years, Winkelmann said. Wait times for the Urus SE, a hybrid version of the bestselling SUV that Lamborghini unveiled in April at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, are expected to be a year.  

On July 23 the company introduced the Urus SE to South Korea, “a growing market that's very important for us,” Winkelmann said during a televised interview in Seoul to promote it. The country was the automaker's seventh-largest market last year, receiving 434 vehicles—a record amount of Lamborghinis sold there.

Lamborghini's upbeat results came after Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares told Bloomberg Television July 25 that “the auto industry is in turmoil.” Renault, Ford Motor, Nissan Motor, Tesla and Stellantis have all reported lackluster earnings. And Porsche AG  cut its outlook for the year after taking its biggest intraday blow since its September 2022 initial public offering; parent company Volkswagen will report earnings on Aug. 1.

In August, Lamborghini will announce the V-8 hybrid successor to the Huracán during Monterey Car Week in Carmel, California, marking the completion of the hybridization process across the brand's entire lineup.

While the company has toyed with the idea of going electric, even developing a concept EV, a fully electric Lamborghini remains in the distant future, Winkelmann said: “The hybrid is really something which is going to stay for as long as possible from our point of view.”

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