Name: ‘We Sell Scarcity:’ How Lamborghini Continues to Stay So Cool
Uploaded: 2026-02-06T08:00:00Z
Duration: 21 min 8 s
Description: Lamborghinis are everywhere in pop culture, but the reality is few people actually own them. On Bold Names, CEO Stephan Winkelmann explains how exclusivity plays into the brand’s appeal and why the company is choosing hybrids over a fully electric future.

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Lamborghinis are everywhere in pop culture, but the reality is few people actually own them. On Bold Names, CEO Stephan Winkelmann explains how exclusivity plays into the brand’s appeal and why the company is choosing hybrids over a fully electric future. Photo: Alexis Green

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Lamborghinis are everywhere in pop culture, but the reality is few people actually own them. On Bold Names, CEO Stephan Winkelmann explains how exclusivity plays into the brand’s appeal and why the company is choosing hybrids over a fully electric future.

‘We Sell Scarcity:’ How Lamborghini Continues to Stay So Cool 

This week on Bold Names, he's the CEO of Lamborghini, Stephan Winkelmann. His cars are seemingly everywhere, from songs... ♪ Rockman lovers driving Lamborghinis ♪ ♪ Jealous 'cause I'm out getting ♪ Hollywood blockbusters.

Will you be wanting the bat one, sir?

Middle of the day, Alfred? Not very subtle.

Alfred: The Lamborghini then? Much more subtle.

Tim: Even my kid nephew has a couple, toy versions. But in reality, Lamborghini only delivers about 10,000 vehicles a year, so how does Stephan keep these dream machines so relevant? That's next. Stephan, welcome to the show. I'm curious, who is the typical Lamborghini owner?

I have to say that we are getting more and more young people behind the steering wheel of a Lamborghini, now with the average age below 45, the youngest customers we have in Asia, followed by the Americans, and the oldest that are here in Europe. They are mainly male, we have round about 7 to 8% also female drivers, which is very welcome. Most of our customers, they love "Made in Italy", they love those type of cars, they usually entrepreneurs, or CEOs of big companies, but we also have a lot of movie stars, artists in general, and also sports stars, so we have a bit of all, and we have a lot of fans even without a drivers license.

Absolutely, I will say that I was visiting with my six year old nephew the other day, and he was showing me his Lambo collection, you know, keeps it next to his Pokemon cards, and I felt like that is kind of indicative of maybe where he's gonna go, he's gonna get into crypto so he can finally afford a Lamborghini when he hits 16. But, you would know about who these customers are, I mean, you're not only the CEO, but this is your second stint as CEO of Lamborghini. Early in your career, typical, I mean you worked with more mainstream brands, like Fiat in certain European markets, and I wonder, how's it your job different at running Lamborghini, which does, what? 10,000 vehicles a year, versus a mainstream car company, which maybe does 10,000 vehicles in a factory in a week, or something like that? I mean, this is like a different kind of mindset that you have to show up to the job, I have to imagine.

This is something which for sure is a much entrepreneurial job, but it's had a conflict with the customer or the dealers, is something which is always about relationship, it's clear that the smaller the brand, the more you have to focus on the single customer, and this is something which in my opinion is the paramount to our success. When you're going to brands which are around us, you are selling mobility, we are selling dreams, so for us, this is the major difference. So, you buy a Lamborghini because you desire to have one of our cars, not because you need it, but because maybe it's a dream which you had since your childhood, and this is something which is very difficult to achieve, because we have... When we develop our car always to go the extra mile, we have to overachieve the expectations, it should be a dream of many, and a reality of few, and if we achieve this, then you know we have done a good job.

And since you've returned, Lamborghini has been on something of a terror, what's been driving that?

But you know after COVID, there was for sure a clear strategy from our side, we wanted to renew all the product lineup, we said we want to be more sustainable, but even more performing than the generation before with a complete new design, so complete new car, and this is something we achieved by adding all the lineup plugin hybridized, this means that then, our V12 now is a plugin hybrid car, and also, the Urus is a plugin, and then also the follow-up, the Huracan which is now a V8 turbo car with a plugin hybrid. So, this was a clear strategy which we kicked off at the end of 2020, beginning of '21, and this is something which the customers appreciated, and also the fact that we have a brand which is increasing in value, we have a very stable and balanced distribution in the major areas of the world, so the main regions, we are not pushing cars into the market, but we always sell in scarcity and this, after a period of time is not paying out, and we increase the volume, but we always said that's a order-bank, which was solid, which was at least one year long, so between ordering a car, and delivering the car, you always have at least one year and this so far, it worked out.

And I definitely wanna talk more about hybrids with you, and I am actually interested in getting deeper into the used car market, because I think that's a fascinating development in recent years. But, first let's talk about 2025, what's the mood of the supercar buyer? On one hand, the stock market for some is doing very well, but there's also some uncertainty about the economy.

But if we look into the global situation of the market, there was this bubble which was lasting until let's say the year 2023, so there was this enthusiasm, and this YOLO effect, know "You Only Live Once"? Which was very important for older brands, but it was also important at that time not to overdo it and not to think that this was the new reality, so we knew from the very beginning, that's sooner or later there would be a saturation of the market, and therefore a saturated market is decreasing a bit, and for us, this was meaning that we looked into what was happening very carefully, and we have the... Let's say the positive effect that we have new cars stepping in, so new models, yes, in a more competitive market, but so far for us, it's still working out, for sure. What is changing is that we have in this year, the Euro/US-Dollar effect, which is affecting our... Let's say our margins we have the Euro with the Japanese Yen, which is affecting our margin, and we have the Taros which was not foreseen at the beginning of 2025 in the US market.

Yeah, so you come out of COVID, there's a bubble of enthusiasm among buyers who will, you only live once, they wanna get a Lamborghini to fulfill those dreams, and then you're seeing a little bit of a slowdown since 2023, and then you get into 2025 and I think I wanna hit on this tariff issue in particular, you had to raise prices, right? In the US, to deal with that, did that affect your customer?

So, for sure we have increased the price a bit, but not to the same level as the increase of the tariff. So, there is still a gap between the two numbers, and for sure there is a way of thinking more about what and when to buy, but we also strongly believe that this is going to be only for the time being and then, at the market, if there are no major changes in the economy, we'll get back to our pace which is similar of before. So, we see some slow down in the market so far, but this is something which we were expecting at the beginning and now we have to see by the beginning and the first half of 2026, what is going to happen.

Tim: Did you ever consider moving production from Italy to the US? I mean, the US is your largest market by unit sales, was that ever on the table?

No, because we have... Let's say our strengths is the "Made in Italy", we are producing a bit more than 10,000 cars on average in the last years, so this will be something which is not logical in terms of economy, but also in terms of what the customers are expecting, the customer's expecting the original, they expecting the car being produced here, not in Italy, but more than in Italy, here in Sant'Agata Bolognese, and therefore we have the majority of the customers, which at least once come to visit the factory before their car is produced, or while the car is in production.

Tim: And how many customer... What percentage of your customers do you think come to the factory? I mean, they gotta pick out the interiors, the leather or whatever, right? I mean, it's gotta be a lot of fun to sit down.

Stephan: We have a studio here in Sant'Agata, which is called "Ad Personam Studio", a studio where they can individualize their car, and this is happening every day and this is very positive for us. But, back to what you asked, at least let's say once a day come to visit when they are our customer.

You're getting into a big moment for the company in the first quarter of 2026, customers are finally gonna be able to take delivery of your newest offering, the Temerario, did I get that correct?

Stephan: Yeah. Temerario, yes.

Tim: And that's... That's Italian for what, "Fearless"?

Stephan: No, Temerario is yeah, it's "Courageous", no? And it's the name of a fighting bull, because the tradition in Lamborghini is to name the cars after fighting bulls, because our logo has the bull in it, so therefore, it's a tradition that we are picking is the name of a fighting bull, and Temerario's one of them.

This is a hybrid offering, right? The engine from it's predecessor goes down to a V8 from a V10, but it still has a lot of that performance, I don't know if a customer would actually notice it, I haven't had a chance to drive it yet, but what I've read, still seems to be pretty impressive. Why hybrid? Is this all because of government regulations around the world, or is there a huge demand for a hybrid among supercar buyers?

There is no period in the history of Lamborghini which is without challenge, so be it economically or technically, or regimentary, or... That is is why there's always something which is happening, and for sure the effect of sustainability is something which is affecting the world, so we said hybridization can be a good opportunity to lower the CO2 emissions, but it has to be done in a way that the performance is increasing, and the combination of an internal combustion engine and a powerful battery with electric motors is giving you the opportunity also to be even more performing, and one of the base briefings I gave, or we gave to ourselves when we were developing those cars, is that if you go on a racetrack, and you have a battery which is at 100% or even less, and you do a hot laps or fast laps, and you go back into the pit lane, the battery never has to be empty, why? Because it always has to be at your disposal for performance, because if it empties, if you empty the battery, you drive around with additional weight, which is not what we want. So, this is exactly what I see as a benefit in terms of sustainability, but even more in terms of high performance electric vehicles.

One of the challenges with hybrid, is that you really have... You kinda have two power train systems going on in there, right? You've go the traditional gasoline, or petrol, or diesel-powered engine, and then you've got all the components needed for the battery part of the vehicle. Some people would say, "Go all-electric." And I know you as a company have been talking about all-electric, I think in 2023 you announced plans for an all-electric offering. But then, I think that the future became a little murky for the Lanzador, right? That's the right name for that? What... You're talking maybe it'll be hybrid instead, what are you deciding?

Stephan: So, what we decided on, when we decided with this strategy of... Who have first all the cars plugin hybrid, and then part of the car is also full-electric, what we always do is market analysis in depth and what we saw is not only for our type of crisis, but in general there is a flattening of the acceptance of full-electric cars generally worldwide, and this is even more valid for our type of cars. So, the first position we took, is that the follow-up Euro which today is a plugin hybrid car, is not going to be in the next generation which is coming out in 2029, a full-electric car, but again, a plugin hybrid car with another V8 engine.

All right.

And, for the Lanzador, so the model number four...

Number four.

Which, yeah we are going to decide very soon, in the next weeks, this is something we are going to decide, and because this is account which is then going to be delivered starting from 2030, so from the end of this decade, so we have to decide pretty fast whether we go full-electric, or also plugin hybrid with this one.

I mean, you... You are kind of getting at one of the challenges that the entire automotive industry has at the moment, not just the top of the top like yourself, but trying to figure out where the market's going, many years in advance, this isn't like a cellphone that's gonna come out next year, this is something that takes many years to develop, and you're not quite sure where the market's going, right? I mean, I think if we were having this conversation five years ago, kind of the rise of Tesla, and the success it was having with customers, and also regulators around the world was the idea that everybody was gonna go all-electric, but we've seen a slow down in that. When do you feel like you saw the market change?

There is a forecast in terms of the adoption rate of full electric cars and percentage year-in-year, and if you see that this is flattening, then it's something which is the obvious, and for us, in our type of segment, today there are very few manufacturers which have full-electric cars, and they are not as successful as they were expecting, to say the least.

Tim: Right.

So, for us...

Especially in that luxury space, right?

Exactly, because you buy this car as we said, no? Because you dream of it, and you want to have the sound of the engine, and this is something which with electric cars, this you've got to have. So, we have to see, on our side we would be ready, but if the market is not ready, if the customer is not ready, then it's useless to do something which is technologically possible, but very few people then are willing to buy, so for us, technology and innovation is paramount for the success of the future, but not in everything. So, for the electric engine, this is not the case.

I mean, it's an interesting situation, right? You got the European market with the EU, and then the UK market, and these regulators there, law makers there have banned gasoline-powered vehicles, or "petrol" as you would... Diesel cars, in 2020... In 2035, thought I know in EU there's a huge effort to lobby to change that, but it is part of the mix, right? One of the challenges you've got is to try to appeal to the buyer who wants to spend a lot of money, is that what they want? And then you've got regulators around the world pushing towards the electrification of the automobile, and its just not quite sure if everybody's in alignment yet.

Very true. And this is not the old trade, it's not only about regulation and let's say the technology, but it's also about infrastructure, it's about green energy for their lock-off and about cost.

I mean, you hit on this earlier in the conversation where Lamborghini or any automaker, it's always a challenge, there's always challenges, right? Whether it's technological or geopolitical, the markets, you're part of a larger company, Volkswagen based in Germany, and it's tough to be a European automaker these days, especially with the rise of Chinese competitors, that's not your space really, I mean, you're playing in rarefied air, but I'm curious, you've got a view of a larger automotive market these days, is it going... Are we going into kind of a winter?

I can speak for Lamborghini, no? So- And Lamborghini is in a good position, but for sure we are living in a market which you know, the global automotive market is 80+ median cars delivered each and every year. When we speak about the segment we are in, we have bit more than 100,000 globally spread all over the place, so it's very difficult to make forecast to see where the market is going, because the change can be from one day to the other, so we are always very careful and for us the most important thing is to safeguard the brand, the "Made in Italy" and to have a care which is always very much matching with the core values of our brand, and with the expectation for sure of the customers.

I just saw a new study out from Boston Consulting Group and duPont REGISTRY Group that actually predicts that the ultra luxury car market in the US is going to rise dramatically in the next decade, the total market value they think is gonna go up about 60% and that's for vehicles that sell between 170,000 to half a million, and the hyper luxury market's something even higher than half a million, they expect that to grow too. The study did a survey of owners and shoppers for these kind of vehicles and found that consideration, was higher among millennials and Gen-X for Lamborghini than maybe previous generations, which is, I think getting at what you were saying, is you're seeing a younger buyer come into the market, and the interesting thing they found, and I'm wondering if you see the same, is that younger buyers are seeing this vehicles more as an investment, where maybe older buyers were motivated by technological innovation and just owning the latest thing. I'm curious, do you have insight into what's driving younger buyers into your vehicles?

Yeah, you have... You are right. You are right. There is more and more, the buyers see the car is not only as something which is nice and exciting while driving it, or looking at it, but also, an investment, because they want to see how the residuals are. Back in the times it was less this way, it was more about enjoying the car and being proud to own one of those cars.

Okay, I wonder where you see the brand in the next decade, and beyond? What is your hopes for it?

For me, it's important that the brand is always matching at least the expectations of our customers, and knowing, as also you've said, no, it's getting more and more difficult to make a preview of what is going to happen in the years to come, I hope that we are never failing our forecast in terms of technology, and if this is the case, the brand will be a shining star even more than today with cars which are matching or overachieving expectations of the years to come.

Well Stephan, thank you so much for making time, I look forward to talking to you more about Lamborghini in the future.

Thank you.

WSJ’s Bold Names brings you conversations with the leaders of the bold-named companies featured in the pages of The Wall Street Journal. Hosts Tim Higgins and Christopher Mims speak to CEOs and business leaders in interviews that challenge conventional wisdom and take you inside the decisions being made in the C-suite and beyond.