> By Andreas Cremer
> Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Lamborghini SpA will unveil a flagship
> supercar costing more than $370,000 called the Aventador, its most
> powerful series production vehicle ever, at the Geneva Motor Show, a
> person with direct knowledge of the plans said.
> The Aventador LP 700-4, which has a 700-horsepower V12 engine
> that surges to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour in 2.9 seconds, will
> be shown March 1, said the person, who asked not to be identified
> before the model is shown publicly.
> The Aventador, which replaces the Volkswagen AG brand's
> top-of-the-line Murcielago model, is already sold for the first year
> of production, the person said. Lamborghini, which competes with Fiat
> SpA's Ferrari, will decide over the next year whether to add a third
> model to its portfolio to complement the Aventador and Gallardo lines, the person said.
> "People may be ripping order forms for the new Lamborghini out of
> salesmen's hands," said Christoph Stuermer, a Frankfurt- based analyst
> at IHS Automotive. "The timing seems right, it's no longer deemed
> inappropriate to flaunt your wealth."
> Lamborghini is counting on the Aventador to help capitalize on a
> recovering market for luxury autos costing more than $200,000.
> Supercar sales in the U.S., the top market for the world's most
> expensive cars, may surge
> 146 percent this year for vehicles costing from $200,000 to $400,000
> after plunging 40 percent in 2010, according to IHS.
> Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy-based Lamborghini is ramping up
> production of the Aventador and may expand output to build as many as
> 100 of the cars by March 1, the person said. The brand is already
> taking orders and will start selling the new model, which has a top
> speed of 350 kilometers per hour, in the second quarter in showrooms.
> Lamborghini spokesman Raffaello Porro declined to comment on the carmaker's Geneva plans.
>
> 'Outrageous Supercars'
>
> "Lamborghini's reason for being is about making outrageous
> supercars," said Jim Hall, an analyst at consulting firm 2953
> Analytics Inc. in Birmingham, Michigan. "Their new flagship will be
> critically important to underpin that position."
> Supercar sales are growing amid a renewed sense of optimism among
> bankers after the U.S. economy, the world's biggest, expanded 2.9
> percent last year, the most in five years. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s
> profits last year were the highest in the bank's history, and
> Citigroup Inc. returned money to the U.S. Treasury and reported its first full-year profit since 2007.
> Workers at big Wall Street banks continued to outpace other
> professions in earnings even as they took modest cuts in pay in 2010.
> Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan's investment
> bank spent an average of $330,212 on salaries, bonuses and benefits
> for each of their 124,556 workers in last year, according to financial
> reports released since Jan. 14, a decline of 2.7 percent from 2009.
>
> Lower Weight Cars
>
> Lamborghini, founded in 1963 and acquired by Volkswagen in 1998,
> aims to produce lower weight cars by increasing the share of
> components made of carbon fibers as emission standards are tightened in Europe and the U.S.
> The Aventador will weigh about 1,570 kilograms (3,461 lbs.), a
> reduction of as much as 95 kilograms compared with predecessor
> Murcielago LP 640, the person said. The lighter weight reduces fuel
> consumption and CO2 emissions about 20 percent, the person said.
> The Aventador will have a safety frame made entirely from carbon
> fiber, similar to what's used in Formula One race cars.
> Lamborghini set up a center at its Italian headquarters in July 2010
> to develop the light composites that complement metals in car frames
> and in 2009 began a partnership with aircraft maker Boeing Co. to
> crash-test carbon fiber.
> "Lamborghini is committed to optimizing the use of light composites,"
> said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management
> at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch-Gladbach, Germany.
> "Carbon fiber will be key to making high-performance cars in future,
> the material implies enormous benefits for handling and braking those vehicles."
