Seven out of every 10 customers say the $200,000 Urus SUV is their first Lamborghini.
Now the Italian automaker’s challenge is getting them to add another Lambo to the garage.
Enter the $262,000 Lamborghini Huracan Evo, a mid-cycle update to the Italian automaker’s entry-level model. As the Urus, which launched late last year as the venerated sports car maker’s first-ever utility vehicle, starts to lure new buyers to the brand, Lamborghini needs to keep them in its stable, said Chief Executive Stefano Domenicali.
The luxury sports carmaker also debuted a $287,400 convertible version at the New York International Auto Show this week.
“Urus was a gamechanger in terms of the profile of the brand,” Domenicali said. “Everyone is looking at us in our segment to see what we are doing.”
The Urus helped lift Lamborghini’s overall sales 51%, to 5,750 units, in 2018 and is expected to top the lineup by the end of the year. Until then, the Huracan nameplate remains the brand’s linchpin, comprising about 70% of its global sales. The Huracan Evo coupe and spyder are expected to continue a sales gain for the nameplate, whose global sales rose 5% last year, to 2,780 units.
The Evo, which will trump the outgoing Huracan’s starting price by about $20,000 when it goes on sale mid-year, is the brand’s first model to combine all-wheel drive and all-wheel steering with a proprietary “predictive logic” system that anticipates the driver’s performance. Despite the racetrack-focused features, Lamborghini says the sports car is meant for hobbyists who visit the track once or twice a year and are likelier to hit the pavement with a passenger.
The newest Huracan runs on Lamborghini’s V10 engine to deliver 640 horsepower, 30 more than the outgoing model. That translates into zero-to-62 acceleration in under three seconds on the car’s way to a top speed of 201 mph.
Lamborghini also beefed up its dashboard technology to target younger shoppers. Huracan buyers already rate among the brand’s youngest customers, averaging between 35 and 45 years old. Unlike previous incarnations, the newest Huracan gets Apple CarPlay and an 8.4-inch color touchscreen.
The touchscreen – the first to debut on a Huracan – will resonate with Urus buyers, said Federico Foschini, Lamborghini’s global chief commercial officer. “It’s a trend that’s strong in the automotive business.”