Lamborghini Breaks Sales Records For 2015.
With new product and an increased market awareness, Automobili Lamborghini has had its fifth successive year of sales growth, with the 2015 year also seeing the brand deliver, for the first time, over 3000 units (3245, to be precise).
2014 saw 2530 units delivered, making last year’s results an increase of 28% over 2014’s figures. With 135 dealers covering 50 countries, it’s also an increase of two and a half times the amount sold in 2010.
Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. said, “In 2015 Lamborghini delivered an exceptional sales performance and new records in all key business figures*, confirming the strength of our brand, product and commercial strategy. With the introduction of several new models in 2015 and a solid order bank, we are well prepared for the year 2016.”
Why I’m Uncomfortable About Driverless Cars
The automotive news overseas is humming about how Ford has just managed to put its driverless cars through its paces in a model city in snowy conditions. This is a big breakthrough for the world of driverless cars, because snowy conditions usually send the LIDAR (like radar but using lasers) sensors that make driverless cars “aware” of their situation berserk. To say nothing of what snowy conditions do to your traction when cornering or braking.
I’m not comfortable with the idea of driverless cars. This is not because I’m a technophobic Luddite (now there’s some big words for you to start the year off). It’s more because I spend a lot of time behind a computer and I know all too well that computers don’t always do what you want them to do. They stop working for mysterious reasons. They get too clever for their own good and try to do things that you don’t want them to (such as the time that my son borrowed my smartphone to check his Facebook feed, with the result that all his friends ended up on my contact list and I pocket-dialled them). Even those super-smart algorithms that customise the ads you get on social media make mistaken guesses about the sort of thing I am likely to buy (I’m already with that bank and I have bought my first home, thank you. And I am not interested in a university course. Or special offers on sunglasses. Or weird old tips.). So I can just imagine how things can go wrong with a driverless car.
DIY or Garage?
Cars are a labour of love to the motoring enthusiast. If you own a vehicle that has done a few kilometres and is also old enough to not be under a manufacture warranty/servicing regime, then you can save yourself some money by doing the car’s servicing basics yourself. Things like an oil and filter change, air filter replacement, coolant fluid check and tyre pressure checks can be easily done by any half-useful person who knows which end of a spanner to hold; and these key maintenance factors do look after your vehicle. You can quite easily purchase a maintenance manual for your car online, at a library or through your local bookshop. Many ‘do-it-your-selfers’ can save a few dollars by doing these few important tasks themselves. Just don’t forget to put the oil back in the vehicle – unlike my father-in-law who, after draining the oil out, didn’t get round to putting it back in. Forgetting the life blood of an engine is a very spectacular way of ending its life.
If you just can’t face the job of changing the oil and other basic checks on the vehicle, do shop around for the best deals in car servicing. It’s surprising how variable the cost of car servicing can be between garages. There are even servicing outfits strictly geared up for doing the basics – like ‘Oil Changers’. The convenience of just dropping your car in when you like, waiting for usually less than half an hour, and driving off again can’t be underestimated. It beats being without a car for a day.
Australian Car Icons Slide Back Whilst Sales Overall Hit The Million Again.
Although the icons of Australia’s automotive industry, Ford and Holden, went backwards in sales in 2015, overall sales hit the million mark for the fourth year in a row, with preliminary figures tipping 1.156 million.
Holden went backwards by 2.9% and was within reach of Hyundai, with less than 1000 sales between the two. The Blue Oval, meanwhile, hurt even more, with sales dropping by 11.6% and outside of the top five, beaten by Mitsubishi for the first time. The iconic Falcon, once one of the country’s favourite cars, sold less than 6000 units and was comfortably outsold by Germany’s Mercedes-Benz, with their C Class sedan.
It wasn’t all bad news for Australian made cars, however. Toyota’s Camry cracked the number one position in December, for the first time in 2015, helped by a pricing structure and finance package that made the vehicle’s value a better proposition. 5320 Camrys found new homes in December, making it just the third time the Camry has topped a monthly sales chart, with the Corolla, a perennial top seller, moving 3470, just twenty more than its persistent rival, the Mazda 3.
Toyota and Ford stood nose to nose in the workhorse stakes, with the Ranger just 290 units behind in December, with 2840 against the 2130 of the HiLux. The Commodore, also once a family favourite, shifted just 2620 in December and in series 2 guise, with Mitsubishi’s revamped Triton, with 2140 units, making inroads.
Hyundai’s i30 moved 2000 units in December just ahead of the 1920 of Mazda’s CX 5 and stablemate Tucson, at 1630.
Overall, Toyota also took the number one spot for December and for 2015, with a rise to 206237 units, an increase of 1.3%. Mazda saw a huge increase for 2015, with a huge 13.2 percent putting them into second overall, with 114024. Mazda also took the runner up position in December, albeit with half of Toyota’s 21K units, at 9700.
Third for 2015 and December was Holden, at 102951 and 9145.
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