Urus to drive new customers

The Lamborghini Urus super-SUV is set to change the face of the brand.

Asia Pacific CEO for Audi-owned Italian supercar marque, Matteo Ortenzi, told motoring.com.au this week that as many as seven out of ten Urus customers were new to the brand. And that figure, he says, comes before any but a handful of potential buyers have even driven the 478kW twin-turbo V8 high-rider.

Ortenzi has been involved in the Lamborghini Urus project since its inception. The new local boss helped create the business case for the vehicle and later in Lamborghini’s product management teams was involved in taking the vehicle to the product line. Now, he’s running a market in which Urus will be a key product for the marque.

Ortenzi says initial response from Asia-Pacific buyers towards Urus exceeded expectations.

“Already the first wave [of orders]… was going over our expectations,” Ortenzi said.

“What we see now is that we have to face another wave, and this is, let's say, now rather [a challenge], because we want to provide the right expectations to customers. So we are looking also how big is this second wave, because this is becoming to be an issue for our production,” he explained.

“It is nice to be the niche, and this was the right strategy having the two sports car [line-up]. Now, we are opening our brand to new customers… What we did with Urus, it might be the perfect example,” Ortenzi stated.

Ortenzi hints the manufacturer won’t rest on its laurels with the initial strong interest in the Lamborghini Urus. He says the marque is planning to take the vehicle to prospective customers. It’s important to drive the car, he asserts.

“We didn't do an SUV [with Urus]… We did the sports car in the body of an SUV. And now that the customer can test the car… They will discover it, because this is not just a marketing claim. For somebody driving the car, this is quite evident. And this is something we like to let the customer experience.”

Test drives will be part of Urus’ marketing campaign but so will special events.

Lamborghini’s Sydney-based exec, Andrea Ruggiero, says that the brand’s Esperienza events could soon be expanded beyond the ‘regular’ racetrack format to incorporate Urus-specific exercises.

“It is important to show how you can drive the car on a daily basis… but Urus will be something definitely different. Via Esperienza, there is not only talking about track, but also to see the car for the top of its performance on a different ground. Maybe not exactly on the asphalt,” Ruggiero hints.

Ortenzi says Asia-Pacific presents the most diverse range of markets Lamborghini faces. But this is as much of an advantage as it is a challenge, he proffers.

“There are a lot of opportunities I see, in a very complex environment. Every market [in the region] is different from the other. Today, we are in Australia. And as you can imagine, this is completely different of the market, for example, in China or in Southeast Asia.

“[This is] also an opportunity, because then we can really customise our strategy in the different markets. It is always good when you can differentiate, because in case of problems in one of the markets, or maybe not the right trend, you have always different environment in which you can do better,” he said.