Huge demand expected for Raging Bull brand’s inaugural plug-in hybrid supercar
Order books for the Lamborghini Aventador’s upcoming successor will open early next month and the Raging Bull brand is already bracing for an influx of orders.
The revelation was made by Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann in an interview with carsales earlier this month, when he said the Italian car-maker is expecting two years’ worth of orders to be placed within the first couple of months of order books opening.
“We will have an opening of the [order] system at the beginning of April and we are counting that we will get all the orders in in a couple of months and our order bank, presumably, will be higher than two years already at the very beginning,” he said.
Lamborghini’s new flagship supercar is due to be revealed next week and while a two-year wait may sound excessive for a brand-new model, Winkelmann revealed this was only slightly longer than the brand’s typical 12-18-month delivery period.
To maintain exclusivity, Ferrari has long famously said it always builds one fewer vehicle than the market demands, but while he stopped short of confirming a Prancing Horse-style approach to new vehicle allocation approach that favours repeat buyers, Winkelmann said longer lead times add to the brand’s desirability.
“The order bank is created by the interest of customers, or by the attractiveness of the cars we’re building, so the more a brand is appealing, the more people are buying the cars, and for us, it’s almost part of the business,” he said.
“We’re not selling mobility – we’re selling dreams – and therefore if you buy a Lamborghini, you buy it because you have the desire and maybe a childhood dream to be fulfilled, and therefore to wait and to have a car which is hopefully exceeding your dreams is one of the key elements of a brand like Lamborghini.
“It’s all about desirability, about building cars that are exceeding the expectations of our customers.”
Expectations surrounding the new Aventador replacement are becoming increasingly high as more and more information surrounding its platform, powertrain and even design are revealed.
So far Lamborghini has confirmed the new supercar’s monocoque platform has nothing in common with the Aventador’s and that it will house a plug-in hybrid powertrain comprising a naturally-aspirated 6.5-litre petrol V12 and three electric motors good for more than 750kW.
Winkelmann confirmed the new model would be more expensive than the Aventador on account of its electrification technology, but wouldn’t be drawn on any specific figures.
Codenamed LB744, this will be Lamborghini’s first series-production foray into the world of electrification and largely sets the tone for what’s to come over the next 12-18 months as the brand “hybridises” its entire portfolio.
“We’ll be entering a new phase and I think that this is a very positive opportunity for Lamborghini,” Winkelmann said.
The Urus super-SUV and the Huracan’s replacement will also receive the plug-in hybrid treatment within two years, and demand for their outgoing non-electrified predecessors is running so high that all production slots are already spoken for.
“The cars are going be run out by the end of 2024 or by the middle of 2024… so we are sold out until the end of production,” Winkelmann said.
The Urus PHEV and Huracan successor will both launch globally in the second half of next year, before Lamborghini’s first ever battery-electric model is released in 2028, by which time brand executives will have made their final decision on the future of Lamborghini and whether the fabled Italian marque will go all-electric.
For the time being, the company top brass are taking their time and prioritising the brand’s hybridisation efforts along with studies on synthetic fuel technology, which could feasibly be leveraged from fellow VW Group member Porsche.
“I think that by ’35, our line-up of the daily usable cars like Urus and the fourth model will for sure be full-electric,” Winkelmann said.
“We will see if with synthetic fuel, the super-sports cars can stay hybrid for generations to come, but in my opinion the most likely scenario is that all the four cars are going to be full-electric.
“We don’t have to decide now. We have at least three, four years in front of us where we can follow-up – [there’s] also evolution of technologies – but I think this is going to be the path.”
Digital images: Kolesa.RU
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Keyword: Lamborghini Aventador replacement orders to open within days