Surging Lamborghini expands

LAMBORGHINI last week officially opened new showrooms in both Sydney and Melbourne, designed to lift the company’s profile and sales in Australia.

The brand-new Sydney showroom at 151 William St was opened on a wet Tuesday night by the president and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, Stephan Winkelmann.

And last night Mr Winkelmann also formally opened the Lamborghini Melbourne showroom and corporate HQ in Chapel St, South Yarra, which the company moved into about a year ago.

Lamborghini sold a record 46 vehicles in Australia last year, a 21.1 per cent increase over 2006, but rival Ferrari jumped 43.6 per cent to 145 sales.

Australian agent Andrew Smith said that the company delivered its 100th Gallardo, making it the most successful Lamborghini model ever sold here.

Internationally, Lamborghini sales rose from 2087 to a record of 2406, an increase of more than 15 per cent, but Mr Winkelmann said that the target for this year is a more modest five per cent.



“We want to keep the entire brand in a position where we always build less than demand. This is very important,” Mr Winkelmann told GoAuto.

“We want an improvement of five per cent for 2008. We see this as controlled growth because we don’t want to stress the organisation.

“Being in the luxury world, it is not so much important how much you sell but what you make out of it. This is very important for the future of our company.”

Last year, the American and European markets represented about 1000 sales each, and Mr Winkelmann said he would like the Asia-Pacific region to match that.

“Australia has a high potential, China has a high potential, India long-term is a market where we can improve, the Middle East is a market where we have a high potential, so it is very important being part of the game here in Australia,” he said.

“I think, after 46 cars last year, there is space for at least 100 (per year) in the next decade.”

Interestingly, demand for the more expensive Murcielago against the Gallardo is proportionately higher in Australia than elsewhere in the world.

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