Lamborghini CEO Steers Toward More U.S. Dealerships

Lamborghini hits record levels for global deliveries, revenue and operating income in the first half of 2024 as the exotic-car brand transitions to an all-hybrid lineup before the end of this year and prepares to add battery-electric vehicles starting in 2028.

“We are slowly ramping up – if the market is there, and if the value of each and every car is protected,” Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini chairman and CEO, tells WardsAuto. “Our goal is always to sell less than demand.”

In the first half, Volkswagen Group-owned Lamborghini reports record year-to-date global sales of 5,558 units, an increase of 4.1% vs. a then-record 5,341 in the first half of 2023. In the U.S., the brand’s biggest single market, deliveries were 1,621 in the first half, almost exactly flat vs. a year ago — down just four units.

Winkelmann says Lamborghini is very gradually adding more U.S. dealerships as it slowly increases sales. He says the order bank is currently 1½ years long.

“We have high demand, and against this, we need to balance what we are willing to produce,” he says.

“From year to year, we are carefully looking into the size of the market, and the length of the order bank, and what the residual value of our cars is. All these things go into how we decide to increase production or not,” he says.

U.S. dealers are keeping an eye on Lamborghini as it adds more dealerships, but the increase so far is modest, and dealers give Winkelmann credit for choosing under-producing vs. over-producing, says dealer Bob DiStanislao, owner of RDS Automotive Group, Newtown Square, PA.

“We always are cautious about adding dealers – when we have a product that’s sold out,” DiStanislao tells WardsAuto. “But that is the case, and it will continue to be the case.”

DiStanislao has three Lamborghini dealerships in Philadelphia, Greenwich, CT., and Newport Beach, CA. He also has franchises for Porsche, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, BAC USA, INEOS Grenadier, Bugatti, Koenigsegg and Pininfarina.

The newest of Lamborghini’s 42 U.S. dealerships is Lamborghini San Antonio in Texas. The dealership recently opened, but the official grand opening is Aug. 30, the company says.

Most U.S. dealerships are shared with other brands, but Lamborghini requires a separate showroom and dedicated service technicians and other dealership staff, Winkelmann says.

 “We are aiming for exclusivity in the showroom, in aftersales and service,” he says.

A top priority for the Italian automaker is a transition to an all-hybrid lineup and, in a few years, adding battery-electric vehicles.

The first Lamborghini BEV is a production version of the Lanzador concept car, a high-ground-clearance, all-wheel-drive model that seats four – by Lamborghini standards, more of a daily driver than the usual 2-seat supercar.

“We’re going to present the car in 2028,” Winkelmann says. “It will be as an additional model. We have people already working on this from now to the end of the decade…to be helpful to prepare the dealers to sell electric cars.”

After that first BEV, the Urus SUV will be the second car in the Lamborghini lineup to get a BEV powertrain, he says.

In the meantime, Lamborghini plans to stick with an all-hybrid lineup, mostly gasoline-electric hybrids — what have come to be called “traditional” hybrids. Lamborghini has a plug-in hybrid, too, having added the Urus SE PHEV.

Lamborghini plans to deliver the last of its gasoline-only models before the end of this year. Production of the Huracán model is expected to end in December, and available models are already pre-sold.

Winkelmann says Lamborghini expects its customers to readily accept the hybrid-only lineup.

“We think it is not a bridge technology, like a lot of people say,” he says. “It is appealing to increase performance, especially at low revs. It’s (about) handling and a lot of torque. The feeling is one of emotion. It’s a good combination of the combustion engine and the battery system.”