Automobili Lamborghini SpA, maker of the $450,000 Murcielago SuperVeloce sports car, would consider adding a four-door sedan to its portfolio of two-seater models to attract customers amid declining sales.
“A third model would fit Lamborghini very well,” Chief Executive Officer Stephan Winkelmann, 45, said in an interview at the carmaker’s Sant’Agata Bolognese headquarters. “A four- door car would be a very feasible approach.”
Building a four-door sports car would allow Lamborghini to compete against Maserati SpA’s Quattroporte and Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.’s Rapide. The Volkswagen AG division has been unable to capitalize this year on a recovering market for super- luxury autos, or vehicles costing more than $200,000, with first-half sales of 674 cars, down 18 percent from a year ago.
Any addition to the Gallardo and Murcielago model lines must yield “a real leap” in deliveries, Winkelmann said, adding there isn’t a plan or decision on a third model.
Sales in the U.S., the largest market for the most expensive cars, may jump 70 percent for the $200,000 to $400,000 category this year after falling 37 percent in 2009, according to researcher IHS Automotive. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the biggest luxury-car maker, this week posted record first-half sales of 970 autos at the Rolls-Royce unit because of demand for the four-door Ghost.
‘Completely New’
Luxury-car manufacturers may sell 19 percent more vehicles priced above $400,000 in the U.S. in 2010, IHS Automotive estimates showed.
“I’d definitely be excited to see a Lamborghini sedan, that would be something completely new,” said Dieter Niederfriniger, co-owner of Austrian metal-forming company Alpewa GmbH, who bought his first Gallardo in 2004 and last year spent 380,000 euros ($500,000) on a Murcielago SuperVeloce. “Every time I look at that beauty I fall in love with it. It’s truly irresistible.”
