Lamborghini Order Cancellations Increase Under Weight Of Economic Crisis

It doesn't seem to matter if a manufacturer is big or small, producing premium products or volume-selling commuters - the economic crisis is biting everyone in some way or another.

Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann recently confirmed that the Italian marque is not immune, and is seeing a significant increase in order cancellations as the economy continues on its downwards spiral.

Sales figures for the luxury market appear to be down around 40 percent for the first two months of 2009, but Wikelmann noted that Lamborghini has not experienced a decline of that magnitude just yet.

There's a silver lining, however, for those who haven't cancelled their orders: cars currently on order will be delivered faster due to the drop in demand. An expected wait time of over one year has now dropped to just six months.

Lamborghini has so far received 100 orders for the new Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce, for which only 350 examples will be made. In a healthy economy, all 350 units would have likely sold out by now, if not almost immediately.

Winkelmann explained that despite the financial difficulties facing Lamborghini, the brand would not be looking at producing cheaper, volume-selling models. The focus will remain on maintaining profitability, without diluting the legendary brand.

A full 20 percent of Lamborghini's 1000-person strong workforce was temporarily cut for two weeks last month and it's uncertain if or when further cuts will be made.