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Audi CEO says brand's EVs are almost as profitable as its other cars

After, oh, a hundred years or so of building vehicles primarily powered by internal combustion engines, automakers around the world have been and still are pumping billions of dollars into the development of electric vehicle technology. Everything from platforms and batteries to motors and the software to control it all requires untold hours of development, and that takes time and money. Fortunately, it's not going to take long for that massive investment to start paying off, at least according to Audi CEO Markus Duesmann, who told Reuters in an interview that "The point where we earn as much money with electric cars as with combustion engine cars is now, or ... next year, 2023. They are very even now, the prices." As a brand, Audi contributed more than a quarter of overall profit for the massive Volkswagen Group, which has such powerhouse brands as Volkswagen and Porsche among others. Under the Audi umbrella are Lamborghini, Bentley and Ducati, and it seems those high-end branches aren't going anywhere, at least for now. "These brands ... are very valuable very profitable brands, where we can even expand the synergy level in the future," Duesmann said in the interview. "There are no plans whatsoever to get rid of them." Despite the overall profitability of the brand, the ongoing global chip crisis is causing headaches. "We had a very strong first half in 2021. We do expect a much weaker second half," said Duesmann, who added, "We really have trouble." In fact, so serious is the trouble that the brand is forced into "a day-to-day troubleshooting process" to limit the chip-shortage damage. The good news for the automaker is that Audi has been able to boost its profit margin from 8% prior to the pandemic in 2019 to 10.7% in the first half of 2021. The bad news is that various chip shortages aren't expected to get a whole lot better over the rest of the year. Related video:

Lamborghini downshifts toward record sales

Reuters reports that the Lamborghini Huracan is doing exactly what it was intended to do for the brand: increase sales. The company set yearly sales records up to and including the first full year of the global financial collapse, moving 2,430 units of the Murcielago and Gallardo in 2008. But even 1,144 combined horsepower couldn't keep that momentum going, and by 2010 that had dropped to 1,302 sales worldwide. Retail success returned with the markets and buyers who deemed it finally safe to be seen in a brand-new six-figure car. Last year, the company set a sales record of 2,530 units, a 19-percent increase over 2014. In an interview with Reuters, company CEO Stephan Winklemann said that Lamborghini should break that number this month. The momentum is coming from the US and Asia, specifically Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. Sales in mainland China are "broadly flat," but that has to be considered success when other much less spendy carmakers are hurting something awful in the People's Republic, and luxury makers have returned their primary attentions to the US. Next year could be even better, with the Huracan Spyder going on sale in the spring. Two years after that, the brand plans to double its current sales with the arrival of its supersport crossover, which has a target of "about 3,000" per year. Related Video:

Lamborghini Aventador Roadster is sold out

Well, that happened quickly. The $441,600 Lamborghini Aventador Roadster is, according to reports, already sold out in every market around the world until at least the middle of 2014.
Boasting a 6.5-liter V12 that churns out a heady 690 horsepower, there's little wondering why the cars are so popular. But with its finicky carbon fiber rooflet, $3,700 gas guzzler tax and and an MSRP that sits considerably higher than the hardtop version's price tag, the Aventador Roadster requires a very specific type of buyer. Lamborghini isn't saying how many of the new dropheads have been sold, but we're told hand raisers won't get their keys until mid-summer at the earliest.
If you need a refresher on what makes this particular Lamborghini worth nearly half a million dollars, you can check out the photos and videos from the machine's unveiling in Miami here.