Lamborghini CEO: Luxury buyers have accepted a plug-in hybrid future - Yahoo Finance

Luxury buyers are a fickle bunch. But Italian luxury brand Lamborghini seems to have figured them out.

Lamborghini just revealed its latest creation — a plug-in hybrid version of its bestselling “super sports SUV,” dubbed the Urus SE. The car may be green, but it's also fast. The Urus SE’s near-800-hp combined power sends the SUV from 0-60 mph in just 3.4 seconds.

Good luck finding one, however, as the Urus SE is sold out — more than 5,000 units' worth — through the end of 2025. Lamborghini is also coming off yet another record-breaking year.

For Lamborghini and its CEO Stephan Winkelmann, the success of a plug-in hybrid doesn’t necessarily mean the company is delaying its full EV plans, which are slated for the end of the decade.

“We live in the here and the now, so it's a bit useless to ask what is going to happen in five or even more years,” Winkelmann said to Yahoo Finance at an event for the Urus SE in New York, deflecting whether he and the company have changed EV rollout plans.

Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Lamborghini, unveils the Urus SE, the first hybrid plug-in version of the Lamborghini Super SUV, during a media event by Volkswagen Group. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

But one thing is for sure: His customers have accepted hybrids. “[Hybridization] was difficult to be accepted maybe five years ago for a super sports car manufacturer like us,” he said, adding that for now the buyers have “digested” a hybrid future, and they like it. “So the hybrids are ‘digested’ [by buyers] because we promise more performance and less CO2 emissions.”

The luxury market — and Lamborghini’s worth

Attendees look at the Urus SE, the first hybrid plug-in version of the Lamborghini Super SUV, shown at a Volkswagen Group media event held a day before the auto show in Beijing, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

While overall luxury buyers have been balking at certain goods purchases, Winkelmann says that is not the case for Lamborghini.

“First I have to say that there is no weakness in the [luxury] world [for us],” he said, adding, “We are in the best shape ever, we are outperforming most of [our peers] — and some are already in trouble — but we are still going strong.”

Winkelmann points to the work he and the team have done on the brand, the products, the life cycle of the cars, their residual value, and developing the order bank.

“We always looked to have something in front of us to be presented [that is] better than the promise [we made] to the luxury consumer.”

Lamborghini’s main rival, Ferrari, has had a bang-up year too. Ferrari reports first quarter earnings on May 7, and is, in essence, the measuring stick that Lamborghini uses to gauge its success.

While Lamborghini’s parent Volkswagen (VWAGY) doesn’t break out the Italian marque’s financial results, there are those that wonder what those numbers could be. And how valuable Lamborghini truly is.

For now it’s a mystery, as Winkelmann declined to answer whether the long-rumored Lamborghini IPO, was in the cards.

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

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