KEY POINTS:
Italian car maker Lamborghini is on track for record sales this year and sees no threat from a stronger euro or a downturn in the US economy, the company's chief executive says.
Lamborghini, a unit of Volkswagen AG's Audi, expects to sell 2400 of its hand-made vehicles in 2007, up 15 per cent from 2006, the company said.
The Italian car maker offered the sales projection at the Los Angeles car show, where it showed off its US$1.5 million ($2 million) Reventon, the most expensive car it has ever built.
Lamborghini will make only 20 of the super-sleek Reventon models and sold out that limited run in less than a week.
Eleven of the 20 vehicles were sold in the United States and five of those in California, the biggest single market for Lamborghini, chief executive Stephan Winkelmann said.
Winkelmann said he has seen no sign that the slump in the once high-flying California real estate market was hurting demand for Lamborghini, which competes with the likes of Ferrari in speed and exclusivity.
Even if an economic recession in the US market began to hurt demand for luxury goods, Lamborghini would be shielded by its 12-month backlog of customer orders, Winkelmann said.
* In New Zealand, between eight and 10 new Lamborghinis are sold a year, ranging in price from just under $400,000 to just over $600,000.
- Reuters