VW's Lamborghini expects to be profitable in 2009

FRANKFURT — Italian carmaker
expects to be profitable this year despite sales setbacks in the downturn — but any recovery for luxury autos in 2010 will be slow, Lamborghini chief executive Stephan Winkelmann told The Associated Press at the Frankfurt Auto Show.

Winkelmann said he expects a positive result despite despite worldwide deliveries nearly 40% lower during the first half. "The main focus is to remain profitable," he said at an event to introduce the Reventon roadster.

For the six-months ended in June, Lamborghini, which is part of Volkswagen , reported an operating profit of euro5.4 million ($8 million) on euro157 million in sales, or 825 cars delivered.

"The high-end luxury market is part of the total luxury market, and I don't see any increases in 2009," Winkelmann said.

"The luxury market is coming back, the timing is difficult to guess. (The downturn) will end for sure, but it will be slow. If a recovery starts in 2010, it will be slow."

Winkelmann said while the U.S. market, the company's biggest, saw sales fall more than 50% the first half of the year, developing markets were contributing nicely to the company's sales and earnings.

"China will be in the top five very soon," in terms of markets, Winkelmann said. "India and Russia will take some time, especially Russia with its long, cold winters."

Meanwhile the company will open a dealership in Sao Paulo, Brazil, later this year, making it the third in the region after two existing dealerships in Mexico.

The Reventon is a two-seater that looks like a bullet with doors that open upward. The 12-cylinder engine produces 670 horsepower and the car can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.4 seconds, hitting a top speed of 205 miles per hour (330 kilometers per hour). The company said it will not build more than 20 and has sold most of them already.

"Even in times of crisis, we want to build cars that fascinate and make people dream," he said, calling the Reventon "astonishing."

Despite the company's concentration on "menacing power," for the Reventon it also aims to do something for the environment.

Winkelmann said Lamborghini hopes to reduce its cars' CO2 emissions 35% by the middle of the next decade and reduce the company's administration and production facilities' CO2 emissions 30% by the end of 2010.

The Bologna, Italy offices and factory will achieve that goal, with a 20% reduction through use of solar panels to generate electricity and 10% through better insulation, he said.