Whereas its rivals are switching to turbocharged engines in the face of ever-stricter fuel economy and emissions regulations, Lamborghini has reconfirmed that it has no plans of ditching its naturally-aspirated engines anytime soon.
While recently speaking with Car Advice, Lamborghini chief executive Stefano Domenicali said that naturally-aspirated engines are at the heart of the brand and that they aren’t going anywhere.
“For us, what is very, very interesting, is that the more there is this push towards electrification, with a lot of respect, the more we feel that we have to be current with our value (of naturally aspirated engines), to be different to the others.
“I do believe that we are so strong in our niche… where there was some of the others who were thinking the ones that will stay with natural aspiration instead of a turbo will have a big issue,” he said.
“I do believe it’s the other way around so far, so it’s a matter of how you prepare your customers to deal with that. It’s not a problem of first follower or second followers, it’s the way that from one side you prepare your technical solution and the other side you prepare your brand in terms of what is Lamborghini for the near future.”
Although Lamborghini is remaining committed to its naturally-aspirated supercars, the Urus SUV will be different. It will initially be sold exclusively with a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 engine before also being offered as a hybrid.
According to Domenicalli, having these technologies in its range will allow the Italian marque to deploy electrification and forced induction into its two-door models whenever it deems necessary, allowing it to keep pace with the likes of McLaren and Ferrari’s all-turbocharged and hybridized future.
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