World's largest Lamborghini dealer shuts its doors

Last night — without explanation from either the dealer's owner or parent company Volkswagen — Lamborghini of Orange County, the world's largest Lamborghini dealer, abruptly closed its doors.

Across the nation, dealers have closed on account of slow sales or the inability to extend credit lines. But last year, the Southern California dealer sold ten percent of all Lamborghinis world wide. Furthermore, most of the Italian automaker's production is custom-ordered and paid for in advance.

All of which makes the sudden closing rather puzzling.

The dealer's website is still up at this hour, but phone calls go unanswered. There are no directions for those who have made appointments for service or have a car on order through the Orange County dealer.

The Orange County Business Journal reported tonight that Lamborghini SpA is attempting to help the dealership reopen.

While the automaker declined to comment on specifics, Pietro Friegerio, chief operating officer for Lamborghini SpA told the Journal that the sudden closure was their first priority.

Vik, Nora, Sossi and Astrid Keuylian own and run Lamborghini Orange County.

Friegerio said the management at Lamborghini Orange County made a few "unfortunate business decisions, independent of the automaker, which have caused the current issues that they are trying to resolve now.”

For now, owners will have to turn to Lamborghini Beverly Hills or Lamborghini San Diego for service or repairs.

[OCBJ]

Lamborghini "Urus" concept headed to Paris Motor Show

A week after we posted the first teaser pic of Porsche's Panamera, Lamborghini announced the company will launch it's own four-door coupe competitor.

In an announcement to the press, Lamborghini said it will unveil a concept car at next month's Paris Motor Show that is nearly ready for production.

The front-engined, all-wheel-drive four-door sedan will be Lamborghini's third model line, joining the V-10 powered Gallardo and V-12 Murcielago coupes and roadsters.

Company sources also said that the production version may use a smaller engine than the 5.0-liter V-10 currently used in the Gallardo. In such a case, Volkswagen AG - which owns Lamborghini - may elect to use Audi's 4.2 liter V-8 engine, possibly with direct fuel injection, twin turbocharging or both.

Shortly after Lamborghini released two teaser shots of the forthcoming concept, forum members at CarSpyShots.com discovered that the company has recently trademarked the name "Urus."

This name would fit with the company's tradition of naming their automobiles after famous bulls. Urus was the latin root name for the aurochs, the Bronze Age predecessor to modern domesticated cattle. A species known for their immense size and power, the last recorded live urus, a female, died in in the Jaktorów Forest in Poland in 1627.

Lamborghini plans to build about 3,000 units per year, roughly matching the sales target set by Aston Martin for their Rapide four door coupe. Porsche, by comparison, plans to build 20,000 units per year.

Lamborghini has been doing quite well despite months of dour economic news; global sales have rised to 1,309 vehicles in the first half of 2008, up from 1,238 in the same period last year. Pre-tax profits have soared by nearly a third to 35 million Euros year-to-date; in 2007, the company' pre-tax profit was 47.1 million Euros.

[AN]