Luxury carmaker Lamborghini has already pre-sold all its production through early 2024, its boss told AFP, illustrating the high-end car’s brash health in a bleak economic backdrop. “We have very strong demand and currently the order book is over 18 months,” Stephan Winkelmann said in an interview, after a record first half for both sales and profitability.
More than 5,000 cars sold in the first half
At a time when the world economy is reeling from the war in Ukraine, wealthy customers remain loyal to the carmaker owned by German group Volkswagen.
“More and more people are coming to Lamborghini”, and the number of customers “is not our concern” as long as “the world economy remains more or less stable”, explains the manager.
The operating margin reached 32% in the first six months, according to results published at the beginning of August, with an operating profit of 425 million euros for 5,090 cars sold.
In this luxury category, Ferrari also posted record second-quarter results and revised its full-year forecast upwards, with order intake at an all-time high. Long order times are also due to missing components, in particular electronic chips.
A “green” strategy in motion
Like the entire Volkswagen group, Lamborghini is committed to the electrification of its range, with more than 1,500 million euros of investment. The manufacturer promises a hybrid version for each of its models by 2024 and a first fully electric Lamborghini “during the second half of the decade”.
“It’s already a lot to switch to hybrid for the entire range” in this period, notes Stephan Winkelmann. “We’re already doing everything we can and moving forward as quickly as possible.”
Source: BFM TV
