Business

Friday May 4, 2012

50-Lambo-a-year target

By CHOONG EN HAN
han@thestar.com.my


Sports carmaker says Gallardo will drive sales in Malaysia

PETALING JAYA: Sports car manufacturer Automobili Lamborghini SpA. expects to sell more than 50 units of its models this year, fuelled by the accelerated demand seen after the company launched its flagship model, the Aventador.

“We are now planning to do more than selling just fewer than 10 cars in the country two years ago,” said its sales manager for South-East Asia and Pacific, Andrea Baldi, after launching the Gallardo MLE (Malaysia Limited Edition).

He said Asia had became a centre for most of the world's supercar manufacturers driven by increased demand as the region steamed along with growth and wealth creation.

In South-East Asia, the trend is still seeing growth and these markets want to see something new and special. — ANDREA BALDI

“We have seen some big hesitation in Europe in the last two years, but in South-East Asia, the trend is still seeing growth and these markets want to see something new and special and that is why we planned the limited edition Gallardo for Malaysia,” he said.

To date, the sole dealer for Lamborghini in Malaysia, JH Italia Sdn Bhd, had received a total of 32 bookings for the Aventador, which was launched last year.

Baldi said lifestyles of affluent individuals in Malaysia were getting closer to its Singaporean neighbours although both countries varied totally geographically and socially, of which Singapore had a far higher concentration of affluent individuals.

Comparatively, the company sold 60 cars in Singapore and 22 cars in Malaysia last year.

According to him, China is the company's largest sales contributor now with sales totalling more than 350 units last year, compared with just 60 cars two years ago.

“Though the rest of Asia-Pacific is growing and is smaller than China, at the end of the day it is still growth. The South-East Asia and Pacific region collectively might achieve the same sales as China,” he said, adding that Lamborghini Malaysia would have a new showroom soon.

Launched yesterday, the Gallardo MLE which is a variant of the company's best selling model uses the Gallardo LP550-2 as its base and sports an aggressive front bumper, carbon side skirts, titanium exhaust tips and carbon-fibre rear diffuser.

The Gallardo's 5.0-litre V10 engine can deliver a total of 550 horsepower and produce 540Nm of peak torque.

The car is priced at RM868,000 before duties, road tax and insurance, and has an on-the-road price without insurance of RM1.68mil. All cars come with a three-year factory warranty.

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