The company that sells SUVs together stays together.
So it goes, or is likely to go, with Lamborghini. Keep in mind that the Volkswagen Group supercar manufacturer has already seen massive sales growth. During the half-decade before Stephan Winkelmann took over as boss at Lamborghini in 2005, the brand was selling only 800 cars on an annual basis. But by the time Winkelmann was done a decade later, Lamborghini was averaging 2,300 annual sales. In 2016, Lamborghini sold 3,457 vehicles around the world, including more than 1,000 in the United States.
Those figures will soon seem paltry because the unfortunately named Urus SUV will double the brand’s volume. But what does such a massive change do to Lamborghini’s operations?
From the perspective of a U.S. dealer, the alterations won’t be minor.
By the time the Urus arrives in the second half of next year, Automotive News reports, Lamborghini should have nearly three dozen North American dealers. At each of those dealers, “Our salespeople have to talk to these customers in different parameters, because it’s not just about performance and the adrenalin effect,” Lamborghini America chief Alessandro Farmeschi says.
Think less magnetorheological dampers; more Lower Anchors And Tether for Children. Less independent shifting rods; more rear legroom.
Rare is the Lamborghini sales consultant who’s ever sold a Lamborghini with a rear seat — the Espada and LM002 aren’t exactly current. Moreover, Lamborghinis have not historically been sold as daily drivers, but that’s exactly what the Urus is intended to be. The consequences of selling daily drivers are far-reaching. Lamborghini’s service departments, for instance, aren’t accustomed to rushing vehicles back to customers.
In the case of the Urus, however, “The reaction of our network has to be much faster,” Farmeschi says.
Given the degree to which the demographic makeup of Urus customers will change the Lamborghini’s brand’s overall clientele, dealers are tasked with realigning the entire layout of their stores. More areas designated for customization, more space for customers to wait around, and more space for dealers to host events are all necessary. The huge investment that Lamborghini requires of all of its dealers, Lamborghini’s Federico Foschini believes, will be more than paid back.
“We are growing in terms of volume very rapidly,” says Foschini. “This means that every dealer has more opportunity to make business.”
Lamborghini will unveil the production Urus on December 4th, seven years after the Urus Concept was revealed in Beijing. Expect a V8 engine with 650 horsepower and a base price of less than $200,000.
[Images: Lamborghini]
Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars and Instagram.
About ten years ago, I used to see Gallardos being daily driven along with one Murcielago. I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t still happen in places where the wealthy have safety in numbers. The problem with the Urus is that driving one will be as embarrassing as dressing from head to toe in Lamborghini gear. It’s as far from driving a new Muira on a weekend getaway with your girlfriend as you can get. If anyone then had said that fifty years from now Lamborghini’s automotive division will be a subsidiary of VW selling overpriced shopping trolleys, I think their customers would have bought Iso Rivoltas instead.
Perhaps, but that customer isn’t the target market anymore. It seems more often than not the new luxury market is someone much younger with new money and less refined taste.
And let’s be honest, when was the last time that Lamborghini actually captured the “refined” luxury market? The miura? While their cars are always exhilarating and cool (to some extent), they’ve gone the edgy, extreme route since the 80’s. If you want to look like you’re classy, you’re showing up in a red Italian car, not a day-glow green one. Lamborghini will be just fine hitting the exact market they want.
I’m sure this will sell extremely well. But what an awful name . Urus.
Urus – holy cow……. well…….. extinct European cow ;)
Might not sell well in India!
“Urus” in Turkish means Russian. Not a bad name considering that most of them will end up in Moscow anyway.
Are people really lining up to buy a $200K SUV? I know Porsche has been very successful selling such things but they are priced at half of what Lambo is asking here.
The same people who buy Lambos and Ferraris in the first place, only now they will be for their partner/significant other to ferry kids around and pack full with packages from Fendi and Luis Vuitton.
If it is the same people, why is there the assumption that this will outsell all previous Lamborghinis combined?
If I had 200k to spend on an SUV I’d want a 6×6 Mercedes.
Me at the car wash to trophy wife: Is that a Cayenne or a Macan?
Trophy wife: I don’t know, my husband buys them for me.
Target demographic.
Nail. Head. Hit.
Close, but if Trophy Wife doesn’t know the brand, she’s not likely to lobby for the pricier Urus. It’s the women trying to one-up the others at the polo club. And those women don’t take their vehicles to the car wash, those things are taken care of by their people.
I can’t imagine it will dramatically change anything. There will still be a lot of interactions with people wearing half-buttoned shirts, lots of cologne, and arm candy half made of silicon.
Traditional Lamborghini cars are driven on the weekends on nice summer days. They require $500+ oil changes and $1000+ services at regular intervals, despite never accumulating many miles. Is Lamborghini capable of producing a vehicle that can be reliably daily driven, racking up thousands of miles in a short period?
I mean, Audi is, that’s what really matters.
Here is a 258k+ mile Lamborghini Murcielago to answer your question.
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/driving-lamborghini-murcielago-258k-miles-clock
Lamborghinis aren’t daily drivers? Someone’s clearly never been to Vancouver’s UBC campus.
Seriously though, isn’t the most common G-Wagen the AMG version? There’s clearly demand for a $200k SUV, although I’m severely out of touch enough with anyone demanding that to know if the 4dr SUV coupe thing is what they’re really hoping for.
Ah, the University of a Billion Chinese. Comes in at a close second to USC (University of Spoiled Children) for daily driven supercars.
A few years pack the RCMP impounded something like 10 million worth of cars in one shot in the lower mainland with their policy of automatic impound with speed 40 kph over posted limit.
Given how much cars cost in China that’s only 12 cars tho
“Honey, I forgot where I parked my Uterus,” will text a victim of an auto-correct feature.
@Stumpaster – “my Uterus needs an oil change.”
Is this going to be priced lower then the Bentley? That’s interesting.