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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:

Harry Metcalfe finds out if the Lamborghini Huracan lives up to the Countach

Former Evo editor Harry Metcalfe might not be as prolific with his Harry's Garage videos as Jay Leno, but the Brit certainly makes up for not releasing continual content with quality, knowledge and passion. Already a Lamborghini fan, Metcalfe is now getting behind the wheel of the Huracan and positions it side by side with his own Countach. Metcalfe brings two fascinating focuses to his videos that you don't often see in clips like this. First, he loves the details, and you get looks at sometimes-ignored elements of the Huracan like its stalkless steering wheel layout and door handle design. Also, he treats part of his drive like a buyer's guide and suggests what option boxes to tick or leave alone. Among those, Metcalfe has absolutely nothing nice to say about Lamborghini's variable ratio steering system, and this one features the standard rack. Unfortunately, you do have to deal with some road noise during Metcalfe's drive that can make him somewhat difficult to hear. The advantage is that once he's out of town, viewers get an earful of the Huracan's screaming V10 engine. Related Video:

Lamborghini hired 192 new employees in 2014

If you took a census of boyhood bedroom walls... well, first of all, you'd probably be arrested, so we wouldn't recommend it. But if you did, before they'd cart you off and put you on some list, you'd likely come to the conclusion (based purely on the posters of exotic supercars) that Lamborghini was one of the biggest, most important automakers in the world. But in fact it's quite small: just a year ago it had less than 1,000 employees on the payroll. That number is rapidly expanding, though. The Bolognese automaker reveals that just over the course of 2014, it expanded its workforce by "192 highly qualified technicians and specialists," bringing its roster up to 1,175 employees. That's a large share of the 500 new staffers it has hired over the last four years, and the company plans to hire more in 2015 "with equally significant numbers." Just as impressively, while unemployment is booming in Italy, especially among the younger generation, about half of those new recruits at the factory in Sant'Agata are under 30. Human resources isn't the only part of the company that's expanding, though. The Raging Bull marque is participating in motorsports more than it ever has before, but the biggest achievement can be seen in its sales figures. The company sold a record 2,530 units last year, which is a good hundred more than its previous record from 2008 and about ten times the numbers it was moving when Volkswagen and Audi took over in the late '90s. The arrival of the new Huracan promises to drive its sales even higher, and if Wolfsburg ever gives it the green light, a third model line (like the Urus crossover) would shoot its numbers through the roof. Automobili Lamborghini: A record hiring of of nearly 200 new employees in 2014 Sant'Agata Bolognese, 28 January 2015 - 2014 was an extraordinary year for Automobili Lamborghini: not only from the standpoint of sales (2,530 cars delivered to customers), but other indicators also demonstrate the growth of the House of the Raging Bull. In 2014, the company hired 192 highly qualified technicians and specialists, bringing the total number of permanent employees to 1,175. Over the last four years, nearly 500 new employees have been hired, all with open-ended contracts. Further recruitment is planned in 2015 with equally significant numbers. Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, commented: "Lamborghini is undergoing a strong phase of growth in both sales and in terms of recruitment.