The Covid-19 pandemic has made life difficult for car manufacturers in every market, but Lamborghini has defied the odds by reporting record profits for 2020.
The Italian supercar maker also posted its second-best ever year for turnover and the number of cars delivered.
While an exact profit figure has not yet been announced, the news release states the firm ended the fiscal year with a turnover of €1.61 billion (£1.37bn), which was just 11 per cent down on its record year in 2019.
Lamborghini president Stephen Winkelmann inspects a Huracan STO, a new model released last year. (Lamborghini)
Bosses have attributed this drop to the fact that the factory was forced to shut for 70 days under an Italian government directive aimed at protecting workers from the coronavirus.
Last year was also Lamborghini’s second-best year for the number of cars delivered, at 7,340 worldwide. Again, 2019 was its record year, when 8,205 cars were delivered.
The top market was the United States, which received 2,224 cars, followed by Germany (607), Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao (604), Japan (600), United Kingdom (517) and Italy (347). For 2021, the firm expects China to leapfrog Germany into second place.
Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, said: “Our immediate responsiveness, an ideal model mix, and the growing demand for customisation of our products pushed profitability to the highest levels.
“In such a difficult year, the brand demonstrated great strength and continued its growing appeal, bucking the trend in the global luxury industry.
“2021 opened with a very positive outlook: deliveries in the first two months of this year have already surpassed those of the previous pre-pandemic period, and the orders placed thus far already cover nine months of production.”
Lamborghini employees producing surgical masks during the initial coronavirus lockdown in Italy. (Lamborghini)
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Lamborghini switched its production from luxury cars to produce surgical masks and medical shields, which were donated to the local Sant’Orsola-Malpighi Hospital in Bologna. It also provided resources and equipment from its research and development department to support the production of ventilators.
Once car production restarted, the firm hit a couple of key milestones, producing the 10,000th examples of both the Urus SUV and Aventador hypercar. Late in the year it released a new model in the form of a road-legal version of the Huracan Evo Super Trofeo race car, which is called Huracan STO.
YesAuto/PA media
Keyword: Lamborghini reports record profits last year despite the pandemic