Lamborghini will continue to invest in synthetic fuels, says APAC head

Lamborghini India finally launched its all-new flagship V12 supercar, Revuelto, at Rs 8.89 crore

Lamborghini India finally launched its all-new flagship V12 supercar, Revuelto, at Rs 8.89 crore (ex-showroom) on December 6, entering what the brand calls its second phase of electrification.

The Revuelto is the brand’s first plug-in hybrid supercar, and it kicks off a phase that will lead to the hybridisation of its entire fleet.

“The strategy is to hybridise our super sports cars like the Huracan and the Urus. So, by 2025, our entire fleet will be hybridised” Francesco Scardaoni, regional director of Lamborghini Asia-Pacific, told Moneycontrol in an interview.

Sharad Agarwal, Head of Lamborghini India, was also present during the interview.

Scardaoni made a clear distinction between Lamborghini’s upcoming all-electric products from its hybridised ones, with the former being more suited for everyday use while the latter will be high-performing, track-oriented supercars.

At a time when electric-performance cars are gathering pace, Lamborghini’s distinction between its future electric offerings, namely the Lanzador and the Urus Electric SUVs, and its supercars underscores the brand’s commitment to theatrical, high-octane poster cars.

“By 2030, we will have two daily driver, comfort-driven cars  while the super sport cars will be hybrid” says Scardaoni.

EU norms and synthetic fuel

With the EU deadline for zero-emission mobility set for 2035, it looks like the brand's hybrid phase of electrification is not going to last more than a decade. “Synthetic fuels will be a possible solution to keep our internal combustion engines,” says Scardaoni, echoing the views of many of Europe’s legacy performance makers, which are looking at decades of R&D abruptly thrown into the bin, in favour of electric powertrains.

Synthetic fuels can be created using electrolysis, splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen and then mixing hydrogen with carbon dioxide to create an e-fuel in liquid form.

While synthetic fuels or e-fuels, at present, are fairly energy-inefficient, brands like Lamborghini are investing in it, according to Scardaoni, even though there’s no clear indication whether the EU will offer any exemption in the future.

“It really depends on the legislators. We cannot say if it’s likely to happen or not, but we’re keeping our options open. Hopefully, legislators will accept such powertrains” says Scardaoni, emphasising that the aural note of Lamborghini’s naturally-aspirated V12 engine is intrinsic to the supercar experience.

Features of Revuelto, sales in India

The Revuelto retains Lamborghini’s flagship 6.5-litre V12 engine, supplementing its power with a 3.8 kWh lithium-ion battery for a combined output of 1015hp. The car is sold out in India till 2026, and Lamborghini India isn’t taking fresh orders just yet.

Having shown a strong year-on-year (YoY) growth, Lamborghini India is seeing its demography expanding to Tier II and III cities.

“While Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi are still our main contributors, we are seeing an influx of customers from Tier II and smaller cities and this gives us the opportunity to detail the market so we can have a stronger presence in it”

“India, for sure, is one of the fastest-growing markets in Asia-Pacific, in terms of YoY growth” said Scardaoni, adding that Korea and Thailand also witnessed big growth compared to previous years.

“India is developing in terms of infrastructure, so there are a lot more places to drive these high-performance cars,” he said.

The brand, which sold a record 92 cars in India this year itself (if not, mention period and copy it in slug as well), claims to have nearly met its target for 2023 in the first month of the calendar year.

However, it is counting on policy consistency and no GST or import duty exemptions, in order to sustain its sales momentum. “We’re not expecting the government to change the policy downwards. We’re just requesting them to have consistency,” said Sharad Agarwal.