Record sales for Lamborghini in 2003

NIce!!

 

Before you get too warm and fuzzy take a look at VW latest $ report. Note the special charges. When VW bought Lambo they announced plans to increase production to 5K units.
Once again Prodcuction does not mean SOLD through to end users. (Polk registration #'s)
Gallardo's at msrp with no waiting and 40th Murcies sitting unsold speak for themselves.
Number's on the Uber RR and Town car/Maybach are "interesting" as well.
Think they'll be a long wait to buy a 612?
A 600+ million Euro "special charge" is no joke.
It's getting harder for EVERYONE.

 

Yes, but you need to concede that regardless of what happens, VW has successfully re-energized the Lambo marque in a way we haven't seen in a decade, and they will again break another sales record in 2004.

It won't be 5k for sure, but Lambo is one of the few divisions in the group that is actually OUTPERFORMING initial estimates.

Re-read the press release from last week, the Euro was actually mentioned SECOND to what other major problem?

A: Lagging sales of ultra-high volume models including the Jetta.

That's where the real money is made or lost, and a slight decrease at that level is where VW took it in the shorts, along with the Euro problem.

 

The new cars are very good. (Styling is taste)
You have to read the financial report not the press release.
The special charge (loss) of 600+ million euros was due to 2 things. Losses in SA. and "development costs" in the luxury segment that won't be recovered.
A good part of this loss is their disastrous luxury VW but "re-energizing" Lambo hasn't been for free and if they are unable to sell Lambo's at the rate
of 5k units a year the investment they made IMHO will not pay off.

 

VW has dumped so much cash into Lambo already, something on the order of 2.6B since 1998, it wouldn't surprise me if the amortization works out to that level (5k/yr.)

That's going to be a tough goal, particularly with all the competition the saturation point has more than been reached in the $160k+ segment.

However, with barchetta versions of the both the Murci and the Gallardo, Lambo could get close. Aside from the 360 Spyder, there aren't many flashy convertibles in that price range. Even the new 996T drop top is as rare as hen's teeth, and that's not really on the 360's level of bling in its stock form.

Figure another 400 Barchetta Murcis sold a year, and another 1,000 units for a barchetta Gallardo. I don't think that's unrealistic. Lambo would then be sitting at roughly 3,000 - 3,500 total cars per year. Still short.

They'll have to add a third model. Either one with lower volume and more margin, like say a 750HP Next-gen Miura, or a something else. Something around a 996T's price range, like the next-gen Lotus Esprit is planning to be.

 

It may be an SUV. They have a history with them. P may sell 36K Cayennes in 04. Maser's "Kubang". Platform sharing Audi/Maser. That segment is getting crowded as well but a new "Rambo/Lambo" could work.
I bet if VW took a Tourag, put in a Lambo V-10, Lambo'd up the look it would sell and be a good SUV as well. Quick and easy for them to do.
The Cayenne is a $ homerun for P.

 

Well, word on the street is that the third will be unveiled in Geneva in a little over a week. I'm excited.

 

Yes, and that's probably the way they'll go, it's the easiest with the shared platform and the most practical. They should up the ante in the segment, and give it an e-Gear option. That would be a distinctive first, but I don't have the engineering background to know whether those units can handle towing thousands of pounds reliably.

Funny that you just cannot survive as solely a sportscar manufacturer today, you have to throw an SUV into the mix. It doesn't matter if you're Porsche or Lamborghini, it's the SUV's world and we're all just living in it.

 

It's just the production Barchetta Murci that they're taking the wraps off of. The previous debut was a concept version.

 

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