Cars

Lamborghini gets jump start in China high-end sector

By Li Fangfang (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-04 11:28

A Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 Superveloce automobile on display prior to the 79th Geneva International Motor Show. With customers as young as 18 years old in China, the automaker is stepping up its sales force throughout the country. [Photo/Bloomberg News]

Newly affluent prompts luxury sports car firm to expand sales

SHANGHAI - China has become the second-biggest market for Automobili Lamborghini Holding SpA due to a sales boom, which saw figures more than double so far this year.

The Italian luxury sports car brand plans to increase investment in the market during the next few years to consolidate its success, according to the head of the company.

"We have delivered 178 super-sports cars to Chinese customers in the first three quarters, with more than 200 percent growth over the past year," said Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of Lamborghini. "This momentum will make it easy to achieve our 200-unit sales target in 2010."

The company sold 80 cars in China in 2009, making the country its fifth-biggest market. That was an improvement on tenth-biggest just one year earlier when it sold 72 units.

Winkelmann told China Daily that the company's market share in China's super-sports car market - which has total sales by all companies of fewer than 1,000 units a year - grew from 17 percent in 2009 to 23 percent this year.

"Although we are proud to have fantastic sales figures in China this year, we see the long-term success of the Lamborghini brand in this market as more important," Winkelmann said.

"We hope that Lamborghini's luxury Italian design, precision engineering, and uncompromising driving spirit can help more Chinese achieve their dream of owning a super-sports car."

Winkelmann was in China this week to unveil two new showrooms in Shanghai and Xiamen, thereby increasing Lamborghini's dealerships in the country to nine. Its first Chinese outlet opened in Beijing in 2004.

"We are confident of having 20 showrooms across the nation by the end of 2011, and we have already signed agreements with 14 new dealers," Winkelmann said.

The company also plans to soon bring the first Lamborghini Academy to Chinese customers, in a bid to provide better service and training as well as the super-sports car culture and spirit.

Winkelmann said the company is also considering launching the first Lamborghini Club in China. "It's very interesting that our Chinese customers are much younger than the average in other countries," Winkelmann said. "Their desire for an individual and uncompromising lifestyle boosts our local sales.

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"And we see increasing demand from the children of the boom generation, which means we have teenaged customers here, some as young as 18 years. It helps us to get the local customers on board early and provides us with a promising future in China."

Eginardo Bertoli, Lamborghini's manager in China, said the company's success can also be attributed to heavy investment in marketing.

"In June we held Lamborghini Day in Shanghai, and successfully concluded Shanghai Track Day not so long ago. We will bring more fantastic events to customers and fans in the future," Bertoli said.

"And we will bring more limited-edition cars to Chinese consumers to show our focus and long-term commitment," Winkelmann said.

In April, the company launched a limited edition of the Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce, specifically tailored for the Chinese market, at the Beijing Auto Show. The 10 cars, with prices starting at 8 million yuan ($1.2 million), sold out within 10 days of their debut.