Hybrids preferred choice, offer best of both worlds: Lamborghini exec

Customers are now preferring hybrid cars over electric cars, believing their performance won't drop, a senior executive of Italian super luxury carmaker Lamborghini said on Friday.

- DEEPAK PATEL

Hybrid cars also offer "the best of both worlds", pairing an internal combustion engine (ICE) with an electric powertrain, Francesco Scardaoni, region director for Asia Pacific at Automobili Lamborghini, said. Scardaoni said any reduction in registration taxes or goods and services tax (GST) would benefit the category.

The Italian carmaker, which had rolled out its first plug-in hybrid supercar, the Revuelto, in India in December last year, launched the Urus SE, an SUV that also runs on a plug-in hybrid powertrain, on Friday.

The company will launch next week the successor to the Huracan, which will also feature a hybrid powertrain.

In an interview to Business Standard on the sidelines of the Urus SE launch, Scardaoni said, "There are some states that are talking about lowering registration taxes on hybrid cars. This would be a great advantage if it is applied to Lamborghini's hybrid cars too."

Asked if the government should reduce the GST rate on hybrid cars, which currently stands at 28 per cent, he said, "Of course. If it happens, it would be even better for our customers. Taxes in India are not the lowest one."

He, however, added that while taxation does create a barrier, the government's focus on creating more road infrastructure will help the super sports car segment.