Lamborghini scraps first EV launch, calls development 'expensive hobby'
Lamborghini will cancel its plan to release an electric vehicle in 2028 due to what the company is calling a lack of consumer demand.
Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann spoke with The Sunday Times in an interview that the EV will no longer join its lineup after the company's analysis found little demand for the EV, which was named the Lanzador in 2023. The company is owned by Volkswagen through its subsidiary, Audi.
Winkelmann told The Sunday Times that the "acceptance curve" for EVs in Lamborghini's target market was "close to zero" and flattening amid a lack of interest from the luxury automaker's clientele.
He added in the interview that EV development poses a risk of becoming an "expensive hobby" for Lamborghini and that the automaker plans to make traditional internal combustion engine vehicles "for as long as possible."
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Winkelmann said that Lamborghini customers appreciate an "emotional experience" with their cars and that, "EVs, in their current form, struggle to deliver this specific emotional connection," he told the outlet.
With Lamborghini canceling plans to move forward with the EV, the company plans to replace it in the lineup with a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).
When asked in the interview whether the company will ever have an EV in its lineup, Winkelmann told the outlet, "Never say never, but only when the time is right. For the foreseeable future, only PHEVs. We will continue to develop electrification because we also need to be ready."
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Lamborghini's plan not to proceed with fielding EVs in its lineup for the foreseeable future comes as other major automakers have taken financial charges from shifting their EV roadmaps due to weaker than anticipated consumer demand.
Stellantis – the parent company of brands such as Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram – announced a $26.5 billion charge earlier this month as it cut back its EV production.
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said the "strategic reset" came after the company's past assumptions about demand for EVs were "over optimistic."
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General Motors took a $7 billion financial charge after it adjusted its EV strategy to account for the weak demand.
Ford CEO Jim Farley said earlier this month that the "customer has spoken" when discussing a net loss of $11.1 billion in the fourth quarter amid large writedowns to its EV programs.