‘India is not growing as we expected’

Stephan Winkelmann is President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini and looks the part, heading a company that makes some of the world’s fastest and most expensive super-sports cars. Dressed like an Italian model and looking as fit as when he was a German paratrooper, the 50-year-old was in Singapore recently to unveil the new Aventador LP 750-4 model. Auto Focus caught up with him to for an interview:

Industry observers say the super-sports car segment is still not out of the woods. Yet, you just returned your best year ever with sales of 2,530 units in 2014.

The segment is stable and this is something we have to get used to. We have more competitors than we did a few years ago. And we are going against the trend because of the brand/product and hope it will stay like this. The Huracán (it replaced the bestseller, Gallardo, in 2014) has been well received and the Aventador, after four years, is still doing a great job with a long order bank. From the first few months of this year, we can only say that if this goes on we can beat the numbers of 2014.

There has been talk of Lamborghini making a sub-$200,000 car. Your comments?

We don’t have plans for a sub-$200k model. Lamborghini has not always been a super sports car manufacturer. In the last 15-40 years we focused on this in positioning the brand. But we believe we can do more. So if we are considering the third model line after Huracán and Aventador, it won’t be a smaller sports car but an SUV. We strongly believe this makes more sense for us and doesn’t dilute the brand or cannibalise those brands we have today. Its pricing would be around the Huracán (starting at ₹3.43 crore in India).

What was the thought process on making 600 units of the new Aventador?

Usually we don’t limit the number but with Aventador Superveloce we have a lot of customers who are collectors. We think it is more valuable when you limit the number and we figured 600 is a right number for a worldwide approach.

And you have already sold 400.

Yes, we have sold 400 even without having one car on the road. On the whole, the biggest market for us is the US, followed by Greater China, the Middle East, UK, Japan and Germany. In China, customers want to see the car first and then decide. Geographically it is well-distributed. The Middle-East is a fast growing market especially Saudi Arabia and UAE.

It does affect the cost. The point is, though, that we have been working on carbon dioxide emissions for years now and we have been able to reduce these by 25 per cent.

Hybridisation is the next step. We have not decided on a timeline for the hybrid. If we do a third model and if it is a SUV, it would be better to have hydridisation for a car like this. This is the first attempt and the first try before we do in a sports car.

Weight of the car is the key for driving pleasure. Active and passive safety standards were introduced 30 years ago and, subsequently, comfort items have increased dramatically.

These increase the weight of a car. The lighter it is, the better it is even while materials like carbon and aluminium are more expensive.

When do you plan to launch the Aventador SV in India?

The SV will come in the second part of the year. At present we have three showrooms in India with a fourth likely. The Indian market is stable though it is not growing as we expected some years ago. We are doing a little over 20 units annually which is not at a level where we could be.

The Indian market is one of those that have the opportunity to grow more than others but taxation and infrastructure are the two things that bother us. We have a lot of Indian customers buying in the UK and the rest of Asia. They have more residences (outside India) and are one of the few who have this style of living. A bit like the Russians! These are the only people who have more of this tendency. They buy in the UK, Singapore.

The writer was recently in Singapore at the invitation of Lamborghini

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