"The Korean market is developing really fast,”said Francesco Scardaoni, the regional director for Lamborghini’s Asia-Pacific business, at a recent event to mark the automaker’s 60th anniversary.
During the four-day event in Gangnam, an affluent area of Seoul, the Italian carmaker displayed its four "historic models” for public viewing, including the Diablo and Countach.
Heavy traffic that can clog roads in many Korean cities hasn’t slowed the interest in high-end sport cars.
In fact, Lamborghini is allocating more of its vehicles to South Korea to help meet the demand, Scardaoni said, while declining to give specific numbers.
"Korean customers like Lamborghini because we believe that cars reflect their taste, their fashion, their mood, their style,” he said.
"Last year was really booming, not only the super sport car, but also what we call the super SUV segment.”
Global carmakers and high-end consumer brands are increasing their presence in South Korea, where per capita luxury spending was the highest in the world in 2022.
Louis Vuitton and Gucci both convened fashion shows in Seoul after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, while Ferrari NV hosted its first-ever Asian motor show in the city.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz Group AG announced plans to introduce two new premium cars in South Korea in 2023.
Lamborghini, a unit of Volkswagen AG, sold 403 cars in South Korea in 2022, making it the brand’s eighth-largest market, according to new registration data from the Korea automobile Importers & Distributors Association.
It’s on track to set another record this year, with 267 of the sport cars sold through the end of August, a 19% increase from a year earlier, the data show.
While Scardaoni sees a "slowdown” in the Korean economy with rising interest rates that may hurt demand for automobiles in the country, he still forecasted a strong year in the Asian country.
"With the current orders for the portfolio that we have, we can see a year-end with amazing results,” he said.
