Lamborghini opens two new dealerships in China

Shanghai November 8 (Gasgoo.com) Automobili Lamborghini SpA opened two new dealerships in Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province and central Shanghai on November 1-2, increasing its total dealerships to nine in the country, Guangzhou Daily reported Monday.

Besides the two new dealerships, the Italian carmaker also operates seven dealerships in Guangzhou, Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Lamborghini's expansion of its sales network manifests a significant success the luxury brand has achieved in the world's biggest auto market.

Since opening its first China dealership in Beijing in 2004, Lamborghini, maker of the $450,000 Murcielago SuperVeloce sports car, has witnessed a steady growth in sales. In the first three quarters of this year, the car maker sold 178 super-sports cars in the Chinese market, up more than 200% from a year earlier, its president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann said recently.

Moreover, Lamborghini's market share in the super-sports car segment in China has climbed to 23% from 17% in 2009, according to China Daily. China has already become Lamborghin's second largest market in the world, Guangzhou Daily said.

Lamborghini Marks The End Of Its Murcielago Supercar

Lamborghini marked the end of the line today for its Murciélago, a big, brutal, 12-cylinder sports car that nearly a decade ago began a successful run for the Italian exotic-car maker under Volkswagen ownership.



Perhaps most striking about the car is that most of the superlatives it represented when new seem almost quaint today. The original car’s 571 horsepower was outrageous in 2002 and put the Murcielago on a high-performance pedestal. Today Chevy Corvettes, Cadillacs and Nissans are all in the same neighborhood. Its roughly three-and-a-half second zero-to-60 run is still pretty quick, but the Lambo has a lot more company in that bracket now.

Sure, the company has been tweaking the car almost continuously over the years and the last model, an LP 670-4 Superveloce, is a bit faster and more refined than the first. But still, supercars don’t seem as super, when compared with everyday models, as they used to. Seriously –if that grandmother in the turbocharged Subaru gets the jump on you at the next traffic light, you may as well give up.

Despite all that, the Murcielago still ranks as my favorite test drive — ever. It was March , 2002, I had a metallic yellow test car for the weekend and a route mapped out to the Berkshires — a round trip just over 300 miles.

The out-and-back drive was a blast, whether on the highway or twisting back roads. Listening to the V-12 engine’s bellowing exhaust sound and watching other drivers reactions was as much fun as the driving itself. Our test car had a six-speed manual transmission with a heavily sprung clutch and a metal gate that helped guide the lever into the right gear. The result of the latter was a mechanical “clank” with shifts. It contributed to an overall feeling – a rewarding one — of working inside a machine.

Supercars nowadays usually have “paddle”-style hand-controls for shifting gears and no clutch pedal at all. They are similar to shifters found in many racing cars, but I still find them wimpy. For me the original Murcielago was the last of the alpha-male exotic cars.

Even though the last Murcielago, number 4099, rolled out of the factory on May 11, the company celebrated the occasion today with an exhibition of the most important 12-cylinder cars of Lamborghini’s history and a parade in its hometown of Sant’Agata Bolognese. Look for a successor next year.

Details emerge on Lamborghini’s 700 hp Murcielago successor

Lamborghini has reportedly shown a select group of customers its forthcoming Murcielago successor. The automaker is said to have hosted an event in Singapore, the first in a series of exclusive customer previews around the world.

The news comes from a longtime member of the FerrariChat online community. The information is believed to be genuine, but we’re unable to independently verify any of the details.

CEO Stephen Winkelmann was on hand for the presentation, according to the source. The car was described simply as the LP700-4, following the naming structure of the Gallardo and Murcielago lines. The car is rumored to be called Jota, but that name wasn’t used during the presentation. “Jota LP700-4″ seems like a distinct possibility.

As the name implies, the car is said to have 700 horsepower and all-wheel-drive. The source also indicated the LP-700 will have a 6.5-liter V12 and a seven-speed single-clutch automated manual capable of delivering 50-ms shifts.

0-62 mph is said to take just 2.9 seconds, and top speed is estimated at 219 mph.

The entire car is said to be made of carbon fiber, making it 70 percent stiffer and 500 lbs lighter than the Murcielago. But carbon fiber isn’t the only F1-inspired goodness — the car also has F1-based suspension at the rear, according to the source.

A debut is expected at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show.