Lamborghini CEO: 'It's not enough just to go fast'

In the decade since Stephan Winkelmann became president and CEO of Lamborghini, the Italian supercar-maker has grown tremendously while weathering some tough economic times.

During Winkelmann's tenure, Lamborghini launched a new flagship model - the Aventador - as well as a new entry-level car, the Huracán.

And in 2018, the VW Group-owned brand will introduce a new SUV: Urus.

Together with the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls-Royce's as-yet unnamed off-roader (code-named Project Cullinan), the Urus will form a new ultrapremium SUV segment.

Recently, Winkelmann sat with Business Insider at the opening of the company's new New York showroom at Manhattan Motorcars.

Here are four big takeaways from the interview:

On how the Urus will change the Lamborghini

The arrival of the company's third model will mean major changes for the company.

"It's a major step for Lamborghini because we are almost doubling the size of our company," Winkelmann said. "If you have 10 models and you add one, it's a major effort, but it's not as difficult as what we are doing [with the Urus]."

The addition of an SUV could have the same effect on Lamborghini that it did for Porsche more than a decade ago. So far this year, SUVs represent almost 60% of Porsche's US sales.

Last year, Lamborghini had its best year in company history with 2,530 cars sold worldwide, a 19% increase over 2013.

Winkelmann believes that this is the right move for Lamborghini.

On the performance of the Urus

On the difference between Ferrari and Lamborghini

"We are a brand that's very different from Ferrari," Winkelmann said. "From the beginning we did a GT car, a 2+2 in the Espada and we built the LM002 [a Hummer-like SUV], in the past."

He added: "We are not only a super-sports-car company, and in the last 10 years we really focused on this."

On why there won't be any electric or hybrid Lamborghinis in the near future

Although the disruption of the auto industry by high-tech newcomers, such as Tesla, has been good, battery-powered cars have a long way to go in terms of range and top speed, the Lamborghini CEO said.

Much of this can be attributed to the added weight of the cars' heavy battery packs.

Winkelmann pointed out that added weight compromises the handling of battery-powered cars.

NOW WATCH: Finally - a Lamborghini that won't make you look obnoxious

Please enable Javascript to watch this video