Lambo gets new homes in SA
2011-04-08 11:28
TIME TO FLY: If you like your Italian supercars without prancing horse badges, Lamborghini’s new local distribution agreement is good news for you.
While Ferrari has been well represented in South Africa by the Viglietti brothers for quite some time Lamborghini has always been a shadow brand of sorts.
That will change now that Imperial group subsidiary Pearl Automotive has added the badge to its local operations through signing an agreement to oversee the Italian supercars' presence in South Africa.
Pearl is familiar with servicing demanding exotic automobile customers. The company has looked after Bentley to the local market since 2002 and is responsible for Lotus.
GAUTENG AND CAPE TOWN
The agreement will see Lamborghini products sold on the same floor space as Bentley cars at Pearl’s Bryanston and Cape Town dealerships. These facilities will be suitably revamped and Lamborghini validated, with sales and after-sales service, and opened officially at the end of March in Johannesburg. Cape Town will open in May, 2011
The showrooms, designed to Lamborghini’s exacting standards, will provide customers with a definitive Italian sports car experience.
"We look forward to welcoming current and prospective Lamborghini owners" says regional manager at Pearl, Hilton Ralph. "We have the technical infrastructure and resources to meet customer’s expectations of service for sales and after-sales."
According to Ralph, it is VW Group policy to pair its twin luxury brands – Lamborghini and Bentley – to retail via a specialist dealer network.
With Lamborghini’s radical new Aventador supercar proving there is still life in the old-school V12 supercar formula, South African customers will (at last) be guaranteed the most exacting levels of service if they buy into the ‘other’ Italian supercar brand.
Just don’t ask Pearl to throw in an Elise for free as a deal-sweetener for an Aventador...
