Shirt by Lamborghini. Italian automaker in the footsteps of rival

The Italian company Lamborghini, which produces sports and luxury cars, plans to follow the example of its main competitor - the Italian brand Ferrari - to open a chain of stores and merchandising. This was reported by news agency Reuters CEO Stephan Winkelmann. The company plans in such a way to promote your brand to the masses.

Lamborghini is based in the Italian town of Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is a subsidiary of German Audi, which in turn is owned by automaker Volkswagen AG. Lamborghini's gross profit in 2006 increased four-fold, to 18, 1 million euros. Revenue increased by 43%, to 346, 3 million euros.

"We are considering various scenarios. One of them - the opening of stores, but not necessarily what we will do so. We are looking for partners for global cooperation ", - said Mr. Winkelmann. However, he did not specify the details of "the rest of the scenarios." At the last Geneva Motor Show Lamborghini head he said that his goal - this year to increase sales by 5-10%. Last year, the manufacturer has broken its own record by selling 2087 cars. The company intends to expand its dealer network to reach new markets - Kazakhstan and South Korea, where demand is growing for Lamborghini. The US remains the largest market for the Italian brand.

Previously, Lamborghini has collaborated with the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia and fashion house Versace for branding, but, apparently, the management decided to expand the channels of brand development, and follow the example of its rival Ferrari. Ferrari has a network of shops selling T-shirts and other products with the logo of the company. In particular, the computer maker Acer produces laptops Ferrari, which are sold in Russia. "We have a wide range of goods: sportswear and footwear, accessories, toys, books and even a phone with a brand label, - said RBC daily, the official representative of Ferrari's headquarters. - We now have 14 stores, one more will be opened in the next year. Basically, all in Italy, the USA, two and three in China. We plan to increase the number of stores in Asia ».

Director of the Automotive Division of Mercury, in representing the interests of Russian brands Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Bentley and Harley-Davidson, Ilya Berezin sure lucrative merchandising business. "So, the company Ferrari and Harley-Davidson get big profit on this activity", - he said RBC daily. Mercury is ready to present the new products of the Italian brand in Russia.

The representatives of the automobile industry often resort to merchandising as a means of promotion of the brand. In particular, this involved not only "luxury" brands, but also tire manufacturers. "A few years ago we applied to the project company Adidas, which offered joint production of sports shoes under our brand - said in an interview with RBC daily director of sales and marketing for Goodyear's Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa Michelle Ronzef. - Our joint project was calculated on the year, but we decided to continue the cooperation with our partner, bringing to market the next shoe models ».

OLGA falcons, Arthur Saruhanov, Natalia Antonova

via rbcdialy.ru