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November 7, 2008, 9:30 am
Week in Wealth: Top Lamborghini Dealer Shuts Down
The ultimate status machine may be hitting the skids.
An article by John Gittelsohn in the Orange County Register brings news that
Lamborghini Orange County–which typically sold 10% of the world’s annual production of Lamborghinis and counted NBA stars Kobe Bryant and Dennis Rodman as clients–has shut its doors.
Photo credit: Lamborghini
The dealer won’t say why. Lamborghini put a brave face on the shutdown, saying it was the result of bad financial decisions by the dealer and that “the economy is not the reason for Lamborghini Orange County’s financial situation.”
Well, that’s a relief. For a minute there I was worried that the contracting economy, falling stocks, rising foreclosures, the credit crunch, margin calls, environmentalism, layoffs and sudden consumer aversion to over-priced status goods would put a crimp on sales of $200,000 cars that get eight to 13 miles a gallon.
Just to make sure, I did some checking with Autodata. It shows Lamborghini has sold 657 cars this year, down 15% from 771 cars a year earlier. October was even worse, down 65% from last October.
Other supercars aren’t faring so well either. Ferrari sales are down 2.6%, while Porsche’s car sales are down more than 30%.