[INTERVIEW] Lamborghini has high hopes for its future in Korea

With Korea experiencing the latest luxury car boom, Lamborghini hopes to make the country its third-largest market in the world.

Francesco Scardaoni, director of Automobili Lamborghini Asia Pacific, speaks during a press event on May 19 in Yonggin, Gyeonggi. [AUTOMOBILI LAMBORGHINI]

With Korea experiencing the latest luxury car boom, Lamborghini hopes to make the country its third-largest market in the world.

“The brand Lamborghini itself fits Korean customers well in terms of design,” Francesco Scardaoni, director of Automobili Lamborghini Asia Pacific said during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Friday.

“With this growth pace, making Korea the third largest market for Lamborghini is perfectly possible.”

The Italian marque sold a total of 403 vehicles in Korea last year, a 100-fold surge compared to seven years ago when it sold only four units, driven by the growing popularity of Urus SUVs.

Korea is now the largest Asian market for the Italian brand, and is eighth-largest market in the world.

Lamborghini stopped accepting orders from Korea for its Urus SUV at the end of 2022 amid skyrocketing demand. The delivery time has extended to three years.

“Korean customers understand our sleek and sharp design and performance,” Scardaoni said. “Lamborghini never hires celebrities or models as brand ambassadors, but customers who experienced Lamborghini fell in love with the cars, and promote the brand themselves.”

“We are ready to diversify product lineup in Korea to satisfy their needs, by introducing the 12-cylinder engine car again,” Scardaoni added.

Huracan STO and EVO Spyder are on track [AUTOMOBILI LAMBORGHINI]

Scardaoni believes the planned introduction of Revuelto, its first-ever plug-in hybrid, will drive Korean customer demand even more. Revuelto traces its roots back to the Aventador, a 12-cylinder car that has been discontinued.

Equipped with a 12-cylinder gasoline engine and three electric models, the luxury sports car boasts up to 1,015 horsepower.

The vehicle can run a maximum speed of 350 kilometers (217 miles) per hour and only takes 2.5 seconds to reach 100 kilometers per hour. It can run up to six miles solely on electricity.

A total of 12 different driving modes will be offered.

“We define Revuelto as a high-performance electric vehicle,” Scardaoni added. “Korean customers highly prefer SUVs, but with the Revuelto, we expect the popularity will be balanced out between sports cars and SUVs.”

The sports car, which was unveiled in March, is expected to be launched in Korea this June.

The Revuelto is the beginning of Lamborghini’s electrification future.

Lamborghini has announced that it will invest 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in electrification over the next five years, with a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2025.

A hybrid version of the Huracan and Urus will be introduced next year, with a pure electric vehicle slated to be unveiled in 2028.

Scardaoni also hinted at using Korean batteries in Lamborghini’s electric vehicles.

“Korean batteries are advancing the qualities, and of course, we are open to all possibilities,” Scardaoni said. “We always choose the best-quality suppliers, and Korean companies are always included.”

Lamborghini also offered a circuit test drive session for the press after the interview, ahead of its Super Trofeo motorsports championship set to kick off in Korea in August.

With Huracan STO offered on the Gymkhana course, the aggressive purr of the engine overwhelmed this reporter when pressing the accelerator.

Despite the 1.3-plus-ton vehicle, cornering was smooth while making a 360-degree turn. Equipped with a 10-cylinder gasoline engine, the sports car boasts a maximum of 640 horsepower 57.7 kilograms-meter of torque.

The sports car was easy to control even on a track, thanks to Lamborghini Dynamic Vehicle Integration technology, which improves traction or enables drift by coordinating the all-wheel drive, all-wheel steering, torque vectoring and advanced traction control.

Called the central brain of the car, it’s also capable of interpreting the driver’s intentions, and adapting the vehicle’s behavior based on external environmental conditions and the selected driving modes.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]