Lamborghini

 

 

 

Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini, designs, engineers, manufactures and distributes luxury sports cars. Lamborghini's production facility and headquarters are located in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy. In 2011, Lamborghini's 831 employees produced 1,711 vehicles.

Manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini founded Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini S.p.A. in 1963 with the objective of producing a refined grand touring car to compete with offerings from established marques such as Ferrari. The company's first models were released in the mid-1960s and were noted for their refinement, power and comfort. Lamborghini gained wide acclaim in 1966 for the Miura sports coupé, which establishedrear mid-engine, rear wheel drive as the standard layout for high-performance cars of the era.

Lamborhini grew rapidly during its first decade, but hard times befell the company when sales plunged in the wake of the 1973 worldwide financial downturn and the 1973 oil crisis. Lamborghini's ownership changed three times after 1973, including a bankruptcy in 1978, before Chrysler Corporation took control of Lamborghini in 1987. Unable to operate Lamborghini profitably, Chrylser sold Lamborghini to Malaysian investment group Mycom Setdco and Indonesian group V'Power Corporation in 1994. Lamborghini's lack of success continued through the 1990s, until Mycom Setdco and V'Power sold Lamborghini to the AUDI AG subsidiary of Volkswagen Aktienge sells chaft on July 27, 1998. Audi's ownership marked the beginning of a period of stability and increased productivity for Lamborghini. Sales increased nearly tenfold over the course of the 2000s, peaking with record sales in 2007 and 2008. The world financial crisis in the late 2000s negatively affected all luxury car makers worldwide, and caused Lamborghini's sales to drop nearly 50 percent.

Lamborghini's Sant'Agata Bolognese production facility produces V12 engines and finished automobiles. Lamborghini's current production vehicles are the V10-powered Gallardo and the V12-powered Aventador. Both production models are available in a variety of regular and limited-edition specifications.

Ferruccio Lamborghini, the man who would found Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini S.p.A. in 1963, was the child of viticulturists living in Renazzo di Cento, Province of Ferrara, in the Northern Italy's Emilia-Romagna region.After serving as a mechanic in the Italian Royal Air Force during World War II, Lamborghini went into business building tractors based on surplus WWII military hardware. By the mid-1950s, Lamborghini's tractor company, Lamborghini Trattori S.p.A., had become one of the largest agricultural equipment manufacturers in the country.He was also the owner of a successful gas heater and air conditioning manufacturer.

Lamborghini's wealth allowed him to cultivate a childhood interest in cars, owning a number of luxury automobiles including Alfa Romeos, Lancias, Maseratis, and a Mercedes Benz.He purchased his first Ferrari, a 250GT, in 1958, and went on to own several more. Lamborghini was fond of the Ferraris, but considered them too noisy and rough to be proper road cars, likening them to repurposed track cars.When Lamborghini discovered that the clutch on his Ferrari was broken, and actually was the same clutch that he used on his tractors, Lamborghini went to Ferrari and asked for a better replacement. Ferrari responded, saying that he was just a tractor maker, and could not know anything about sports cars.Lamborghini decided to pursue an automobile manufacturing venture with the goal of bringing to life his vision of a perfect grand tourer. 

Towards the end of the 2000s, Lamborghini produced a number of revisions of the Murciélago and Gallardo. Lamborghini released the Reventón, a limited-edition derivative of the Murciélago featuring a newly designed body with more angular styling, and a roadster the following year. The final update to the Murciélago came in 2009 with the release of the LP 670–4 SV ("SuperVeloce").

After ten years of Murciélago series production, Lamborghini produced the 4,000th example, an LP 670-4 SV destined for China, in February 2010.Lamborghini produced the last Murciélago, number 4,099, on May 11, 2010, but did not officially mark the end of production until six months later on November 5, 2010.

Lamborghini achieved its highest ever yearly sales figure in 2008, selling 2,430 vehicles.During this decade the Asia-Pacific market became more important to the company's sales performance, growing to represent 25 percent of Lamborghini's overall worldwide sales.Despite the strength of the the Asia-Pacifc market, the effects of the world financial crisis that began in 2007 caused Lamborghini's sales to drop almost 50% below their 2008 peak, selling 1,515 vehicles in 2009 and 1,302 vehicles in 2010.CEO Stephan Winkelmann predicted in 2009 that poor sales figures for supercars would continue through 2011;history would prove him right.