Lamborghini hopes it can continue producing cars with internal combustion engines into the next decade, CEO Stephan Winkelmann told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag this week. “After hybridization, we will wait to see whether it will be possible to offer vehicles with an internal combustion engine beyond 2030,” he said in an interview with the outlet. “One possibility would be to keep combustion engine vehicles alive via synthetic fuels.”
If Lamborghini actually continues making ICE cars into the 2030s, it would put the Volkswagen-owned automaker at odds with much of the industry. Consider Dodge, for instance. The Stellantis-owned brand plans to debut its first all-electric muscle car in 2024. That same year, it also plans to stop producing some of its most popular gasoline-powered models, including the Challenger and Charger. By contrast, Lamborgini won’t offer a fully electric car before the end of the decade.
Practically speaking, even if Lamborghini continues producing ICE cars into the 2030s, it may not be able to sell those vehicles in many places. In the US and other parts of the world, governments have moved to ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars by mid-decade. Countries like Germany have made carveouts for vehicles powered by synthetic fuels, but no company is producing the gasoline alternative at scale yet and may not for many years to come.
