http://www.motorintelligence.com/m_frameset.html
Did Maserati stop reporting US sales, or are then now being combined with Ferrari? can't imagine that they sold 0 cars in June.
Not many "green shoots" there, eh? Even Toyota is slowing down....Ferrari's -10% pales by comparison to the Big 3's (Big 5? Nissan/Renalt, FIAT/Chrysler) numbers. Even the morning commute here in the Energy Capitol is lightening, marginally.......there's not as many nails in the road, from construction debris either! See, I always try to find the Silver Lining........ But replacing the work trucks, we have new Astin Martins zooming all around...I've seen maybe a dozen on paper plates, in the last week...
Well, in the final words of Waylon Jennings, I guess Lambo just is not "Right for the Times"....a shame as they had made real progress on build quality, IMO, since the "Old Days". I can only assume these Austin owners are figuring it's lower key stylistically, and more under the radar. I DO recall an Astin executive touting the brand loyolty of it's owners in an interview, so maybe they are working the phones, in a trade in campaign of some sort.
Interesting that Maserati and Ferrari would report have 2 different sales close timelines when they are run out of the same building in NJ. True, Lambo is off their sales pace at an alarming rate.
My business (manufacturing) is down over 40% YTD over last year so these figures are no suprise to me. What will be suprising is if the list of car manufacturers contains all the same names listed above in June 2010. Russell PS I drive a Lambo so in the future I may have either a rare car or a pain in the rear when it comes to spares and repairs.
Audi sales were only off 15%, so you may be OK when it comes to spares for modern Lambos. The Germans seem to be better at this sort of thing.
Now, it seems an F-car you can justify because of race heritage etc. Purpose built, and will always have the race thing going for it. When you look at a Lamblo they just scream of excess(gold chains guy that doesn't get it) not unlike seeing a Hummer lumbering down the road. How long will that last?
That may be part of it, but I do honestly wonder if the other part is that the Audi R8 ate into Lambo sales.
Lamborghini doesn't scare me anywhere near as much as it scares you every month. Yes the economy is killing sales, but do keep in mind that Lamborghini has no new product and hasn't since 2004 when they introduced the Gallardo. Yes they've warmed over the Gallardo and the Murcielago, but they do that often and it doesn't generate sales like a totally new product would. The Lamborghini numbers don't surprise me, and they shouldn't surprise Lamborghini.
I get to count for one of the Honda sales. We bought my daughter a new CR-V two days ago, she thinks I am the coolest! BT
Porsche is the really striking one here. Those drops are catastrophic! Audi's (relative) success is well deserved. I recently went shopping for a new daily driver and drove the new Porsches. But the 997's, despite the reviews, really didn't do much more for me than my 996 turbo. I just didn't see the need to "upgrade" because the upgrade was not readily apparent. After driving a series of BMW's and Audis I settled on an Audi S4 and I have to admit, after a couple of weeks I'm mightily impressed. Exactly what I was looking for in a sports sedan. The interior is impeccably competent and the handling, while having a little bit of a roll, is outstanding- exactly what I was looking for when I wanted a slightly softer ride than the Porsches. It's an incredibly comfortable car around town and on the highway and that V8 engine is lovely. Hopefully it will prove to be dependable and they'll have made a customer for life.
The problem with both Ferrari (even more so) and Lamborghini is that they each have built very large automotive infrastructrures to supply what was, basically, a false economy and excess demand in light of easy credit. It will be a long time before either sells as many cars as they have over the past five years. A lot of those customers have faded away with the reduction in home prices. How they manage their own internal costs and debt will determine how much of a future each has. My guess is pumping out "special edition" cars and "one-of-a-kind" cars will help in the short-term, but it won't be enough to sustain them in the long run. The numbers don't lie. They catch up with all companies--and individuals. In the case of Lamborghini, Audi appears to be on a mission of fratrricide with the R8 and R10. And they, like Ferrari, have so overbuilt the market that the glut of existing cars (and extrremely low trade in values because the dealers do not want to take any market risk) is making it harder for them to sell new ones. And the Ferrari California has a cup holder! What does that tell you about the marketplace? Business 101 has never been a long suit of these companies because of their automotive passions (thank goodness), so let's hope the time is not too ripe for the parent bean counters to possibly stage a coup. They have a lot of fixed costs to deal with, and someone has to pay for them. Guess who?
Interesting thoughts. The thing to keep in mind is that many of Ferrari's June deliveries were contracted a long time ago. What real demand is today and will be in the future is a big question. There is way too much exotic capacity and that is a problem that will haunt for a while.
