Lamborghini can make up for lost sales in Russia through other markets, says CEO

Italian luxury sports car brand Lamborghini can easily make up for lost sales in Russia through other markets, the company's CEO Stephan Winkelmann said during a web conference. The carmaker has suspended business in Russia following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Lamborghini, which is a part of the Volkswagen Group, sold a record of around 200 cars in Russia last year, out of a record of 8,405 globally. "The cars we have planned to produce for Russia this year can be easily absorbed by other markets," Winkelmann said.

He added that the company is waiting to see how the situation evolves in Ukraine."But if it does not change, we'll have no problem to absorb that demand, thanks to our strong order book and waiting lists," the CEO said.

The luxury sports carmaker plans to start offering hybrid vehicles from next year and make its entire lineup - the Huracan and Aventador sports cars and the Urus sport utility vehicle (SUV) - plug-in hybrid between the end of 2024 and 2025. The company recently announced that it will bring in two new versions of both Urus and Huracan in the coming months, and those four cars will mark the end of the era for combustion engines.

The company's first fully-electric vehicle will come in the second half of the decade. Its production is expected to take place at the brand's headquarters near Bologna, northern Italy, Winkelmann said. "There is room here to increase production," he added, without providing a target on the future car output for the brand.

Lamborghini posted a margin on its operating profit of 20.2% last year as compared to a target of between 22%-25% for the coming years, the CEO said.