Lamborghini says Middle East deliveries have returned to normal
SANT'AGATA BOLOGNESE, Italy, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Italian sports car manufacturer Lamborghini said that the conflict in the Middle East was no longer disrupting deliveries to the region, but the Volkswagen-owned VOWG.DE luxury brand warned that the outlook remained highly uncertain.
"September and October saw an improvement in our ability to deliver the vehicles," Chief Marketing and Sales Officer Federico Foschini said at a briefing with journalists
The situation should be positive also for November, but it is difficult to make predictions further ahead, he noted, speaking at the company headquarters
In April, Lamborghini had said that the conflict in the Middle East had forced a complete stop to sales and deliveries in the region
The Middle East region accounts for about 450 cars sold a year for Lamborghini, roughly 5% of its annual volume, but historically produces high profit margins, in line with industry peers
The company's top 10 markets are the US, Germany, Britain, Japan, China, South Korea, Canada, Switzerland, Italy and Australia, it said in a slide presentation
On full-electric plans, Foschini reiterated that they had been put on ice, but research on the issue continues as "sooner or later we will also have to confront" this technology
On October 30, Lamborghini reported falling operating profit and deliveries in the first nine months of the year, but rising revenue, citing "market headwinds"
Operating profit was down 4.8% year-on-year to €564 million ($633 million) due to negative foreign exchange effects, higher depreciation and US tariffs, the automaker said
($1 = 0.8908 euros)