After getting a phenomenal response to Aventador which it launched earlier, the Italian sports car manufacturer Lamborghini recently unveiled its open-top variant hoping to cash in on the growing supercar market. Just as the economy is getting better, the bull is getting ready to rumble. Ammar Alvi has more.
It was a jam-packed evening as Italian sports car giant Lamborghini descended upon Singapore, home to the world’s highest concentration of millionaires, to launch the open-top variant of its Aventador Roadster.
The Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster is powered by the 6.5-litre V12 engine, the one used in the coupe version too, which produces the same amount of 690 HP. The unit is mated to a seven-speed automated transmission which is allowing the Lamborghini Aventador Roadster to accelerate from 0 to 100 kmph in just three seconds, or in 2.9 seconds for the coupe, before reaching a top speed of 217 mph. The car also comes with a cylinder deactivation system and with the stop / start system.
The body of the new Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster sports a two-tone finish, as the windshield pillar, the two roof sections and the rear window area up to the ‘fins’ are painted in gloss black. The visual effect is that of a completely open vehicle with sleek lines combining perfectly balanced sportiness and elegance. The range of colours available for the Roadster has been supplemented with a very light, metallic blue colour, Azzuro Thetis, whose tone varies with the angle of the light. This colour recalls the shade of the extraordinarily beautiful 1968 Miura Roadster, and both highlights and reinforces the lines of the vehicle by adding strength and dynamism.
Even the interior has a new look. The use of leather called Sabbia Nefertem highlights the superb hand-made craftsmanship of the upholstery from Sant’Agata Bolognese, the headquarters of Automobili Lamborghini SpA, and is a perfect match for the exterior in Azzuro Thetis. Finally, the new Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster also features new Dione 20’/21’ rims with a daring, aggressive look. Crafted in light forged aluminium, they lower the weight of the vehicle by 10 kg compared with the standard set of rims.
The loss-making company hopes that this year will be better compared to the previous years when it clocked global sales of 1,602 cars in 2011 and 1,302 in 2010.
According to Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, “Sales are up at least 10 per cent, even more, in comparison to last year; we already have exceeded the sales of the total year 2011, so this is a good sign. We have a slowdown in Europe, we have an increase in the US, Southeast Asia is going well, the Middle East is running well. China, we don’t know.”
Automobili Lamborghini, owned by Germany’s Volkswagen AG, is still confident about China, its second-biggest market after the US with nearly 350 cars sold last year and 20 dealerships set to be running by this year.
The freshly unveiled Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster which is priced at around half a million US dollars is not an easy buy and India might just get a few before it gets picked up by the who’s who.