Hybridisation will be a winning strategy in India: Lamborghini

As automakers globally shift gears from fossil-fuel-based powertrains to more sustainable options like hybrids and EVs (electric vehicles), the luxury automobile industry is experimenting with alternatives that can aid them in achieving their net-zero targets. Italian luxury car maker Automobili Lamborghini aims to hybridise its entire portfolio by 2025. It has earmarked 1.2 billion euros for research and development for a smooth transition.

Francesco Scardaoni, Asia-Pacific head of Lamborghini India, in an interaction with Fortune India, says that hybridisation will be a winning strategy for Lamborghini.

On December 6, the company launched its first plug-in hybrid supercar Revuelto in India at a starting price of ₹8.85 crore The SUV has a 6.5 litre, naturally V12 hybrid powertrain with a combined output of 1015hp (horsepower). It is also equipped with a 3.8 kWh (kilowatt-hour) lithium-ion battery.

According to Scardaoni, the luxury car maker plans to bring a hybrid powertrain for its ICE-driven SUV Urus Performante and supercar Huracan by 2025. 

In India, Lamborghini sold 7,744 units in the September quarter of CY2023, and clocked a revenue of 2.03 billion euros, up 5.2% as against the same period last year. The company’s operating profit stood at 618 million euros in the September quarter. It currently sells Urus, Revuelto and Huracan in India. It says it has been sold out for the next 18-20 months in the country. The company ceased producing Aventador last year. According to real estate agency Knight Frank, the country’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) will rise by 58.4% by 2027.  

According to Scardaoni, with the government’s efforts to improve public infrastructure, India is one of the key markets for Lamborghini. “It is important that without the base of a government supporting the wealth, development in a country will be more difficult. We saw that the Indian market is growing a lot. The government is putting efforts to develop more infrastructure, not only public infrastructure but also in terms of construction, mining and so on. This makes us think that more customers in India will be Lamborghini customers. We believe that India has the potential to grow even more,” Scardaoni says.

Scardoni observes that an important exercise for Lamborghini in India will be to understand when the exponential growth (in terms of car sales) will start to become normal growth. “Right now we are facing exponential growth in India, but sooner or later it could be a more sustainable growth. So it is important for us to understand when this transition will happen to also reset our growth strategy. There will still be a growth strategy to a different level, but we believe that India for the next couple of years will be a star market in terms of growth,” says Scardaoni.