I drove a Lamborghini recently,a pretty orange one.
Now all I have to figure out is how I’m going to afford the hefty monthly payments on a reporter’s salary.
Driving a Lamborghini is exhilarating. It’s like flying a plane. I once flew a plane,a two-seater Cessna,and landed on one wheel. I had better luck with the Lamborghini.
Flying on the streets, the engine is a passenger. It’s a constant roar, a muffled lion’s roar. Step on the gas and you’re there.
It isn’t for the timid. Other drivers are gawking, wondering who you are. They’re thinking: How did you afford that $200,000 ride?
So how did I wind up driving a Lamborghini?
After checking out Lamborghinis at the recent California International Auto Show in Anaheim I paid a visit to Lamborghini Orange County in Santa Ana. What piqued my interest is that the dealership bills itself as the No. 1 Lamborghini seller in the country.
I wanted to find out why.
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Nora, Vik, Sossi Keuylian: Cars sell for around $200,000 |
The dealership is owned and run by three sisters: Nora and Astrid Keuylian, who are majority owners, and Sossi Keuylian.
Brother Vik Keuylian is general manager. Nora and Vik handle sales. Nora also does financing.
Being with the Keuylians, who are Armenian, is like meeting friends for lunch. They’re surprisingly down to earth. Selling is second nature.
“For us business comes naturally,” Nora said. “We like to have fun. That’s what the whole car is about.”
They typically wear jeans or dress casually to match the customers. No one comes in wearing suits, she said.
Buyers are young and they drive their cars a lot, she said.
“They don’t keep them in the garage as trophies,” Nora said.
The Keuylians are passionate about cars.
At 18, Vik sold his first Lamborghini while working at a Newport Beach dealer.
“He made manager right away,” Nora said.
Prior to opening the dealership, Vik was the U.S. distributor for Lamborghini. He tripled Lamborghini’s U.S. sales, Nora said. The dealership sells about 100 cars a year. There’s even a Momo edition color named after him,Rosso Vik, a shade of red.
He also develops real estate, with a few projects going on in Escondido and Temecula.
There’s no hard selling, according to the Keuylians. After all, anyone who walks in to the dealership likely makes more than $100,000 a year and is probably a Lamborghini aficionado.
“It’s not an impulse buy,” Nora said.
Buying a Lamborghini for a guy is just like decorating a first home to a woman, she said.
Guys get excited about picking out the color of the car, the interior, she said. They can change the black calipers that come with the car to match the body color.
“Men feel like this purchase is a big day for them,” Nora said.
Buyers include Rod Stewart, whose $350,000 red Roadster was sitting on the showroom floor awaiting a performance exhaust. Kobe Bryant bought one for his wife. Nicholas Cage, Dennis Rodman and the Maloof family, owners of several casinos in Las Vegas, also have bought there.
Many of Lamborghini’s customers are Porsche owners looking for the next step up, according to Nora.
She said she would like to see more women driving the car: “I think it’s a very sexy car.”
Automatic driving is a matter of pressing a button. For drivers, the interior has a glove-like fit.
“We wear high heels. We wear skirts. Women want to feel comfortable when we’re driving,” Nora said.
Getting in and out is another matter. The Lamborghini is low to the ground and you do have to exercise a bit of grace.
Nora used to own and run a Lamborghini dealership in Beverly Hills that she recently sold to join her family in OC.
“I sold it where it was,” she says with a pause and a smile, “very profitable.”
MainPlace Marketer
Julia Theios is the new marketing director for Westfield MainPlace mall in Santa Ana.
Previously, Theios headed up marketing at Westfield Parkway in San Diego County’s El Cajon.
MainPlace is the county’s sixth largest mall with about $285 million in yearly sales. Owner Westfield Group of Australia is nearly done with a makeover of its mall in Century City. MainPlace could be in line for spiffing up, too.
Westfield revamped its Century City center with entertainment, restaurants and specialty stores as a focus, instead of dominant department stores.
