Lamborghini sees strong Chinese demand for its new 'supercar'
Italian luxury carmaker says it has already received 300 orders for its latest supercar
Automobili Lamborghini is experiencing strong demand for its new supercar across the mainland and expects sales to pick up this year despite the crackdown on lavish spending.
President and chief executive Stephan Winkelmann said the Italian luxury carmaker had already received 300 orders for the entry-level Huracan LP 610-4 from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The first customers will receive their cars this month. The company has received almost 3,000 orders globally for the car, which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March.
Winkelmann was in Hong Kong on Monday for the local launch of the Huracan, which bears a price tag of just under HK$4 million, including tax.
The upbeat forecast may come as a surprise.
Lamborghini produces only two models: the flagship 12-cylinder Aventador and the 10-cylinder Huracan. The Huracan replaces the Gallardo, which finished production at the end of last year, leaving Lamborghini with a single model in its showrooms for more than half a year. For this reason, Winkelmann was reluctant to reveal the company's sales target for this year.
"We have sales targets; we will do better than last year in terms of the total number of cars sold. And also in China we will do better than in 2013," he said.
On the carmaker's prospects in China, Winkelmann said the market for supercars in the US was five times bigger, leaving much potential for growth in this region.
"It depends on a lot of factors and we will see down the road how this is going to develop. To make a forecast is very difficult," he said.
The Sant'Agata-based company sold 267 cars on the mainland, in Hong Kong and Taiwan last year - 147 Gallardos and 120 Aventadors. The company does not provide a breakdown for sales in the region. Total global sales amounted to 2,121 cars.
The Gallardo enjoyed a 10-year production run and was Lamborghini's best-selling car, with 14,022 units produced. Winkelmann said he did not expect the Huracan to have such a long production run, but he was confident that more Huracans would be sold next year than Gallardos in its best-performing year.
About 1,840 Gallardos were sold in 2008, he said.
"Over the life cycle, I hope it's going to do better, like it's going to be for the Aventador," he said. The Aventador replaced the 12-cylinder Murcielago in 2011.
Winkelmann said he was not concerned about investigations into some European car companies in China for alleged overpricing on cars and parts.
"We don't see this because we have a proper price and also the spare parts are fair in terms of pricing compared to the value of the product," he said.
