Italian luxury carmaker Lamborghini has not entertained advances from Arab investors looking to buy the company and would prefer to remain part of German parent company Volkswagen, a senior company executive told Arabian Business.
“From time to time we have requests for getting stakes or buying the company but there is no need,” president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann said when asked he had been approached by any Arab investors or funds eager to invest in the company.
Last year, the iconic firm celebrated its 50th anniversary and announced the retirement of the popular Lamborghini Gallardo, which will be replaced with the new Lamborghini Huracán, which will go into production this year and will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March.
The Gallardo sold 14,022 luxury units in its ten year history and helped Lamborghini record its third successive year of growth in 2013. Across the year, the niche manufacturer delivered 2,121 cars, up nearly two percent from the 2,083 units delivered in 2012.
Of these, the Lamborghini Aventador saw a nine percent rise in deliveries from 2012 compared to 2013, just two and half years after its debut.
“In the year of our 50th anniversary, Lamborghini has delivered a very satisfying performance, confirming the strength of our product and commercial strategy. Even in its last year of production the Lamborghini Gallardo has shown strong sales, whereas the Aventador has beaten all records of V12 model sales in our history. The USA and China are our biggest single markets, the Middle East and Japan are very strong and Europe is in line with the trend in our market segment.”
Volkswagen Group, the German car manufacturing giant whose stable of brands includes Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche and Škoda, bought Lamborghini in 1998 and Winkelmann said one reason the company has spurned potential Arab suitors is because he sees the company’s future success as remaining part of the larger conglomerate.
“We feel very well inside the Volkswagen Group and this is something which is key for the success. Future markets will be more complex so the group is what is going to make the difference in the future.”
