Lamborghini Orange County, based in Santa Ana, has opened a temporary “boutique” on Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach, awaiting its move to a larger showroom across the street from the Balboa Bay Club.
That showroom should open in January, said Nora Keuylian, who owns the dealership with her brother Vik Keuylian and sisters Astrid and Sossi Keuylian.
Lamborghini OC was an exhibitor at the recent OC Auto Show, put on by local dealers at the Anaheim Convention Center. Keuylian showed a slew of Lamborghinis, two in new colors. The Gallardo Spyder was shown in a blue metallic called Blu Scuro and a red metallic called Rosso Targa. The Gallardos sell for about $250,000.
The most expensive Lamborghini at the show was a LP640 Roadster, at $450,000.
Sales of Lamborghinis have slowed somewhat, Nora Keuylian said. Customers from the mortgage industry have fallen off, but the ultra wealthy, such as Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, are still buying, she said. Bryant is one if her store’s best customers.
Tight credit hasn’t affected the dealership much, she said. Lamborghini leases about 60% of its autos and proof of income and good credit have always been requirements, Keuylian said.
End of Leasing
The economy has put an end to the leasing program for one automaker so far. Chrysler LLC has stopped leasing autos, and other automakers could soon follow, said Tony DiNicola, a Western region manager for Jaguar Land Rover North America LLC, which was bought Tata Group this year.
“It’s definitely been more difficult to get loans and to get credit approved for leasing,” he said.
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LP640 Roadster: most expensive Lamborghini at OC Auto Show |
More dealers have been looking to add credit unions to their financing arsenals, DiNicola said.
Jaguar is a smaller brand relative to other luxury brands, such as Mercedes-Benz, which sells 600 to 800 a month. In August, the number of Jaguars registered in OC was up 116% to just 54.
Jaguar has five dealerships in OC. Bauer Jaguar of Santa Ana is the top selling dealer in the county. The new Jaguar Land Rover Aston Martin Newport Beach dealer on Jamboree has also helped sell more autos.
Car Gadgets
Chrysler may have canceled its leasing program but the company now is offering a dealer-installed gadget that turns an automobile into a wireless Internet hot spot.
The router, made by Autonet Mobile Inc., based in San Francisco, serves as an Internet service provider, tapping cell phone towers to bring the Internet to an auto. The router, which costs $500, was on display at the OC Auto Show.
Pet Friendly
The most pet-friendly car of the year, deemed by dog seatbelt maker Bark Buckle Up, is the Volvo XC90, which was on display at the auto show. Bark Buckle Up named the SUV the safest auto for toting pets due to its mesh luggage holder in the cargo area.
Bark Buckle Up, based in San Diego, promotes pet safety. Founder Christina Selter demonstrated a pet buckle using a large stuffed dog.
The pet buckle, made by Costa Mesa-based Precision Pet, works with a human seatbelt to secure a dog in the seat of an auto.
Bark Buckle Up displayed a number of pet products for autos, including an oxygen mask that is specially made for a dog’s long nose, and the pet protector, an identification tag that uses Web-based information entered by a pet owner to identify a lost pet and any medical problems that pet might have.
The Volvo’s pet-friendly status hasn’t done much for sales of the vehicle, said Joel Dalbo, general manager for Volvo of Orange County, based in Santa Ana.
Money for CHOC
The Costa Mesa-based Orange County Automobile Dealers Association raised more than $60,000 for the Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
About 800 people attended a fundraiser, which was held the night before the OC Auto Show opened at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The dealers association owns and presents the auto show along with Southland Motor Car Dealers Association. Motor Trend Auto Shows Inc. produces the show.
Forever Mervyns?
Some of Orange County’s Mervyn’s stores could become Forever 21 stores.
Los Angeles-based Forever 21 Inc., which sells clothing and accessories for young women, has submitted a bid to buy about 150 of 176 Mervyn’s stores, according to Apparel News. The Hayward-based Mervyn’s LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Details of the bid were not released.
OC has several Mervyn’s stores in cities such as Huntington Beach, Fullerton and Tustin.
