WHILE prestigious supercar manufacturer Lamborghini is selling every car it can make, Australian dealers are focusing on high standards of customer service as they wait for increased production.

Automobili Lamborghini Oceania manager Eginardo Bertoli said local dealership standards were high and the company was prepared to let dealers go if they were not able to meet them.

Speaking at the launch of the Huracan LP580-2, Lamborghini’s latest and cheapest supercar at $378,900 before on-road costs, Mr Bertoli told GoAutoNews Premium: “Our customers have to receive the best possible experience from the dealer.

“Customer needs come first,” he said. “They have to receive the best possible experience from the dealer and if a dealer can’t provide that – and after we have helped and advised them to lift the standards – then we have to let them go.”

Mr Bertoli said all Australian outlets are stand-alone dealers “in the sense that they operate the front room (showroom) strictly for Lamborghini.

“We understand that our dealers can’t just sell Lamborghini. All four dealers in Australia are multi-franchises,” he said.

Mr Bertoli said dealer training was vital to Lamborghini’s success and the focus is paying off.

He said Australia had become an unexpected gem in Lamborghini’s global growth and was now responsible for nine per cent of Lamborghini’s Asia-Pacific region and tipped this year to expand further.

Lamborghini Australia sold 84 supercars in 2015, compared with Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren who managed to shift 167, 130 and 36 cars respectively. In 2016, Lamborghini Australia is forecast to reach 100 sales by year’s end.

Lamborghini Asia Pacific general manager Andrea Baldi said the Asia Pacific region represented 13 per cent of Lamborghini’s global sales in 2007 and grew to 28 per cent in 2015.

“Australia and Japan were the fastest-growing countries for us in 2015 and we expect that to continue in 2016,” he said.

The Asia Pacific region has 39 Lamborghini dealers in total, four of which are in Australia.

Mr Bertoni, based in Japan and responsible for Australian business, said there were no plans to increase dealer numbers despite growing sales.

“We had planned that the Aventador would double the sales of its predecessor, the Murcielago. But it exceeded even that,” he said.

“The Huracan has sales growth up 69 per cent on its previous model, the Gallardo.”

Lamborghini hopes that 2016 sales in Australia will exceed their number of 100 but says it is tempered by supply.

There is now a 10 month wait for the Huracan and a much longer wait for the $761,500-plus flagship Aventador.

Demand will see Lamborghini almost double the size of its factory near Modena in Italy’s north, from 80,000 to 150,000 square metres, expected to be completed by 2018.

“This increase in factory size and the introduction of our new SUV will double sales around the world,” Mr Baldi said.

“This will be achieved by our increase in investment in research and development.”

“We had a €870 million ($A1.260 billion) revenue in 2015. We have allocated 20 per cent of revenue a year to R&D, but for the next two years we will increase that to 30 per cent.”

The R&D, which will be the equivalent of $A380 million annually, is aimed at bringing the Urus SUV to production in 2018 and continuing development in powertrains.

Mr Baldi said R&D would include looking at the “best options” for future powerplants, hinting it could include hybrid systems.

“Hybrids could be a way forward but we have to see the future trends,” he said.

“We are a small-volume manufacturer and we have to balance what we can supply with what the customer wants, while retaining our exclusivity.”

Mr Baldi ruled out any change to Lamborghini’s current practice of building only normally aspirated (not turbocharged or supercharged) engines and questioned that practice by rivals.

“Maybe it’s an attempt to put a bigger number on the car,” he said of the power outputs being promoted by competitors.

“We think it could be more to do with marketing. You have to think about how much horsepower you can put to the ground and what is the best balance for the car. It’s more than just about speed.”

 

 

By Neil Dowling