Lamborghini sees potential here for sporty two-seaters

Lamborghini, one of the most luxurious supercar makers in the world considered to have an advantage from being more affordable than others, sees much potential in the Korean market.

“Korea is a very important market. But for the rich people, we are not on their shopping list. We have to be on that list. They can buy Mercedes, BMWs and Porsches, but we are not in there yet. Some do (buy super cars) but it’s not large enough in proportion to the size of the Korean economy,” said Akio Takemura, sales manager of Automobili Lamborghini Japan who also oversees sales of the Lamborghini brand in Korea in an interview with The Korea Herald.

In Japan, Lamborghini sold just short of 100 vehicles this year to secure a 23 percent increase from last year, according to figures from the Japan Automobile Importers Association. In Korea, it sells around 20-25 cars a year. 

“Considering that Korea‘s population is about half of Japan, car sales in Korea should come to half of Japan theoretically, but it’s not there yet,” the manager said.

He further compared the two markets, saying that the latter is more saturated while here, the “two-seater” market for Korea is much smaller, which is precisely why there is more room for growth.

The executive was in Korea last week to promote the Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera Edizione Tecnica, a lighter and sharpened version of the original that was released in Korea priced at slightly less than 400 million won.

While still expensive, the price tag is more reasonable than others, such as Sweden-made Koenigsegg and Germany’s Maybach.

Takemura refused to state exactly who the competition is for Lamborghini, but said his goal was to say to “somebody above us, tell them we are here, we are right behind you, be aware.”

Lamborghinis in Korea are imported via Charmzone Imports. Globally, the brand is owned by the Volkswagen Group in Germany.

Takemura said headquarters has yet to decide whether to form a full-fledged Korean office for the Italian supercar brand.

For this to happen, many expected that Lamborghini would have to pick up sales. More test-drive opportunities, mostly on the circuit, are going to be one way to boost sales, he said.

The executive added that while he was uncertain whether headquarters has scrapped the plan to open a race track in Incheon, as earlier reported, the idea did not seem feasible.

“A Lamborghini race track doesn’t make sense, both turnover wise and sales wise. If we are large like BMW or Audi, maybe it makes sense,” he said. “We can be a part of it to help partially, but as a single brand, I don’t think so.”

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)