Lambo introduces Huracan Spyder as sales soar

LAMBORGHINI Australia is on track to achieve its highest yearly sales figures yet as it unveils its latest drop-top performance hero Down Under, the Huracan Spyder.

Making its Australian debut at the Lamborghini Melbourne dealership in Richmond, the Huracan Spyder will arrive in local showrooms in the second quarter of 2016 carrying a price tag of $470,800, before on-road costs.

Interest in the Raging Bull’s latest supercar has been strong, according to Automobil Lamborghini Oceania manager Eginardo Bertoli, who expects the new lid-lifted Lambo to push sales even higher.

Lamborghini has sold 83 Aventadors and Huracans so far this year in Australia, easily surpassing last years 27 vehicles sold and eclipsing 2013’s record 47 units delivered to customers in the same period.

Mr Bertoli said the local market has been performing very well for the Italian supercar-maker and he expects the trend to continue.

“We are collecting a lot of orders, there is a lot of interest,” he said.

“Our numbers, our market performance in Australia is very successful. We are very satisfied.

“I feel confident that this is a trend which will stay as we are introducing new products, like in the case of the Spyder.”

Mr Bertoli said he expects the waiting list for the new Huracan Spyder to lengthen as the car makes its way up to Sydney and then on to Lamborghini’s newly opened Brisbane dealership.

“We are collecting orders at a very good pace, of course Lamborghini is limited with production, so it will take some time to deliver,” he said.

“So at the end if this, you know roadshow, I can tell you.”

Speaking on the success of the marque locally, Mr Bertoli said the company has been actively promoting itself Down Under and that “Australian people love our brand”.

“We are working on our brand, which is becoming more and more established in Australia, gaining more publicity with the marketing events involving media and PR activity, we have a very well established dealer network across four states, and finally the product line-up that we have is outstanding with Aventador and Huracan.”

Designed from the ground-up to function as a convertible, the Huracan Spyder shares the same underpinnings as its coupe sibling, only with a retractable roof that can be lowered and raised in 17 seconds at speeds up to 50km/h.

Moveable fins and optional wind guards are also added to reduce wind buffeting, along with an automatic pop-up safety bar.

Power comes courtesy of the same ballistic 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 engine, producing 449kW of power and 560Nm of torque, mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, dubbed ‘Lamborghini Doppa Frizione’ (LDF), sending power to all four wheels.

This is enough to propel the drop-top Huracan from zero to 100km/h in only 3.4 seconds – just 0.2s slower than the coupe – the 0-200km/h dash is done in 10.2s, and the Spyder will reach a top speed of 324km/h.

To slow the 1542kg supercar, carbon-ceramic brakes are fitted as standard, measuring 380mm in the front and 356mm in the rear, which are tucked behind 20-inch wheels wrapped in Pirelli rubber.

Uniqueness is expected to be a defining part of the Huracan Spyder, with Lamborghini offering different colour combinations for the exterior, roof, interior and brake callipers, touting 30,000 different combinations in total.

Although sharing the same platform as the incoming next-generation Audi R8, even adopting the same 5.2-litre V10 – albeit tuned by Audi engineers – and likely to be cheaper, Mr Bertoli said he does not expect any competition from the Lamborghini’s supercar cousin.

“I think we are talking about two different segments of cars, I don’t see an overlap, absolutely not,” he said.

“Customers make difference choices, some like the Audi and some like the Lamborghini. Our numbers are growing and growing and growing. We are not worried about cannibalisation.”