Lamborghini shows it's bullish about the future

Lamborghini’s 2012 sales figures provide yet another reminder that supercars are big business at the moment, with year-to-date deliveries up 30% from 1,602 to 2,083 units globally.

And while the overall volumes underline the marque’s promise, there are further interesting insights to be found in the details.

Lamborghini sold 922 of the range-topping Aventador LP 700-4 in 2012, compared to 1,161 of the Gallardo – confirming its status as the most successful Lamborghini ever, with over 13,000 cars delivered since launch.

But the Aventador is set to overtake it, thanks to the recently launched Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster. Initial pre-order expectations have already been exceeded, with a sales backlog of more than 15 months for both versions. For a model costing between £240,000 and £290,000, that’s an impressive performance and should help earn CEO Stephan Winkelmann the latitude to expand the range with additional models.

One of those models is the Urus SUV, which Winkelmann is currently awaiting approval for from VAG’s supervisory board. Despite an excellent public response, the Urus remains on hold but is expected to receive the go-ahead later this year .

Lamborghini’s turnover increased by 46% from 322 million euros in 2011 to 469 million euros in 2012, with sales balanced across the three main regions: Europe 29%, America 28% (of which USA is 25%) and Asia Pacific 35% (of which China accounts for 15%). The Middle East and South Africa account for 8%.

As explored in our recent article – The multi-tiered economies of a global car market – the U.S. leads in terms of growth (up +53%) with Europe increasing by 34%, Americas by 50% and Asia Pac by just 9%.

Demand in China continues to grow, but nowhere near as quickly as other key markets. While wealth at the top-end has grown, the gap between rich and poor increases and the burden of welfare (or lack of) and infrastructure weighs more heavily on China’s economy. Liz Economy, of the Council on Foreign Relations, published yesterday about some of China’s recent problems including 3,000 floating pigs, carcinogenic rice and poisoned air.

These add to an already long list of reforms needed in China to address the low quality of its oil refineries, the lack of social mobility and an outflow of entrepreneurs to the west. It’s no wonder sales of exotic cars are stuttering.

“Beside the existing models Gallardo and Aventador we will continue, as part of our product strategy, the approach of manufacturing uncompromising, street-legal One-Off’s such as the Lamborghini Veneno, which has been successfully presented at this year’s Geneva Motor Show as a homage to our 50th anniversary,” said Winkelmann.

As with most other car makers, Lamborghini’s sales have yet to recover to the levels of 2008, but at least the trajectory is headed in the right direction.