Yet another "Special Edition"

:icon_rolleyes:

 

"To celebrate 45 years of Lamborghinis in Japan and to commemorate the 10th year anniversary of Lamborghini Japan, a special edition LP560-4 --- Bianco Rosso --- has been exclusively created for the Japanese market."

 

Exterior: white car with red mirrors, engine cover & brake calipers. Interior: black with red inserts on seats, door handles, parking brake lever and red stitching. Only 10 is available.

 

So are they going to do the reverse paint scheme for the Switzerland edition? Anyone anticipating for the Lambo's own "Dragon Edition"?

 

I'd much rather have any one of the 3 vintage models. Then again, I'll take all three!

LOL.. thats horrible..

LOL.. thats horrible..

 

 

 

They better be putting all this money from these bogus special editions toward R&D....

Well to be fair, so long as they aren't charging more for this than a regular car, there is no harm done to the customer. Even though they have released a painful amount of 'special editions,' you still have a wider selection at the end of the day. As a customer, choice is never a bad thing.

 

If you were a Japanese guy and decided you wanted a new 560 today, you'd have one more style to choose from. What's the harm in that?

Well to be fair, so long as they aren't charging more for this than a regular car, there is no harm done to the customer. Even though they have released a painful amount of 'special editions,' you still have a wider selection at the end of the day. As a customer, choice is never a bad thing.

 

If you were a Japanese guy and decided you wanted a new 560 today, you'd have one more style to choose from. What's the harm in that?

 

 

I can assure you that the car will cost more than an equally-equipped LP560-4; otherwise, what the point for Lambo? Either that or Lamborghini Japan decides to pull a fast one and requested Lamborghini SpA to come up with this and share the bonus earned.

 

The harm is every single "imported car" in Japan of nearly every brand shares this "special" colour scheme. Since you are living in and travelled around Asia, you must know there are hundreds (no exaggeration) of white BMW's with red interior; and numerous of them have red mirrors. I commend the Japanese's patriotism (though buying a foreign car sort of defeats the very concept) but it's getting really long in the tooth and how is it "special" with just a different paint scheme that's almost cliche?

I can assure you that the car will cost more than an equally-equipped LP560-4; otherwise, what the point for Lambo? Either that or Lamborghini Japan decides to pull a fast one and requested Lamborghini SpA to come up with this and share the bonus earned.

 

 

 

Yikes. Sad thing is we still have at least another year of this bullshit (maybe 2?) before the G successor.

 

I am stoked to the nads for the G Ninja addition in black and blue with downgraded stealthy exhaust and steering wheel shaped like a throwing star.

I can assure you that the car will cost more than an equally-equipped LP560-4; otherwise, what the point for Lambo? Either that or Lamborghini Japan decides to pull a fast one and requested Lamborghini SpA to come up with this and share the bonus earned.

 

The harm is every single "imported car" in Japan of nearly every brand shares this "special" colour scheme. Since you are living in and travelled around Asia, you must know there are hundreds (no exaggeration) of white BMW's with red interior; and numerous of them have red mirrors. I commend the Japanese's patriotism (though buying a foreign car sort of defeats the very concept) but it's getting really long in the tooth and how is it "special" with just a different paint scheme that's almost cliche?

 

I think that car will sell at a similar price to what an Ad Personam car sells for. Or maybe instead of being able to buy under MSRP, you just pay regular MSRP. In theory you could just custom order that car if you really wanted, but some people just need to think they are getting something special.

 

I think the point is just to try and move more cars that have lately been pretty hard to move new. Gallardos aren't flying off lots, so you gotta do something. We know enthusiasts only account for a small percentage of sales, so this is just a way to target some random rich people and make them think they are getting something special. Invite 100 rich people to a party, tell them there are only 10 of this special edition available, then sit back and watch them try to look good by ordering cars in front of each other.

 

I don't know about Japan because I don't live there and the money isn't as new there, nor do I know if that style is in fact passe or anything, but people in China eat that shit up. They love special edition stuff and being able to pull up in front of the club and tell some guy that it's 6/10 while pointing to some gay metal number plate somewhere in the interior. And if it's a China exclusive they like it even more. That's why they have so many special editions in China. Chinese people have loved Dragon stuff for thousands of years and I don't think that's gonna change any time soon. Dragon special edition? Yes, please.

 

Funny story. A friend of a friend asked me to bring home a Tori Burch knock-off bag for her daughters birthday, so I did. A few other people wanted bags too. My GF said the bag looked nice and so did my mom. My mom doesn't care about brands but she thought the bag was so nice that she wanted me to bring her back something similar next time. On that same trip back, a Chinese friend of a friend ask me to bring back a bunch of real coach purses from the US. These people probably earn $1K/month max and here they are asking for $1200 in purses.

 

On a trip to HK, those Chinese people ask me to bring them back 64GB iPhone 4S's from HK when they probably don't even have more than 1-2GB of music/photos on them. Why not just get the 16GB version? For my friend back home, I picked up 10 pairs of knock of Ray Ban aviators for $20 because he like Ray Ban aviators and loses/breaks them all the time.

 

There are no shortage of people, especially Asia, who are all about face. They need the newest versions, they want to be able to tell people they are real and brag about it. It's so easy to sell them special shit that 99.9% of the world doesn't give a shit about. There are no shortage of people like that in the US either (the woman's daughter just recently told her how she would never be caught dead wearing a knock-off bag )

 

It's business. Sell to people who want to be sold. And as for people like us, we aren't obligated to buy, so why not? Doesn't hurt me any if they offer some guy a Kazak special editions. If it's cool looking I'll order one. If not, I'll just get a white one.

^Let's not limit that kind of mentality to Asia or Chinese only (yes, to be fair, you did mentioned the US too). It's most likely universal for anyone from anywhere who accumulated wealth in a relatively short time to act this way. I think most of everyone here knew what your preferences and rationale are from your comments on watches. I agree that at the end of the day, automobiles, regardless of brand or its history --- its mystique or otherwise --- remain a consumer product and in today's date and age, corporate needs to be satisfied with the sales number. But an equilibrium is needed to avoid the self-fulfilling prophecy of condescending the brand & risking its image & exclusivity. Making "limited editions" of the same product (as oppose to actually making an exclusive production of an unique model) only increases the total production number of that very product and that translates essentially as an oxymoron. When a particular brand relies its success on certain exclusivity, increasing its production units will absolutely ruins its core value. Original supporter of the product will only shake their heads, eventually lose interest, abandon the brand and look elsewhere. And the nouveau riche will also learn in due course and they too will jump ship.

I think you're overestimating the damage it's done. In theory you're correct, but in reality I don't think that's the case or at least it's minimal. Who here didn't buy an Aventador because of all the Gallardo and Murcielago special editions? Who here isn't going to buy the next Gallardo because of all the special editions? You still bought a new SL and still want an Aventador.

 

I think the best thing you can do is ignore these things. Every high-end brand in the world does it. Lamborghini isn't the only one guilty of it either. I'm not into luxury watches, but I'm sure AP, Hublot, Patek, and all the others have also released lame special editions that consist of little more than colors and a unique label. Even nerds buy special edition video cards, and hipsters buy special addition Nikes. At the end of the day, a special edition Gallardo is still a $250K car and that's not really cheapening anything. 99.999999% of the world will think any special edition Lamborghini is cool. It will still be worth what other ones are worth. The only people who are going to tell you that you bought a gay, ugly Japanese flag Gallardo are on this forum.

 

I also question whether or not enthusiasts know better than corporate. They all begged for a RWD car, but never took out their checkbooks when they arrived. They complained that the DCT was emotionless and now they all say how shitty it is that the Aventador doesn't come with a DCT. Enthusiasts are too wrapped up in the brand to know what's good for it, imo.

 

Some guys are worried about special editions cheapening the brand, while they should be more worried about the number of people who jumped ship and own R8s, about what Audi is going to do to it when they release a DCT 560hp R8 for $100K less than a new 560, and about what you're paying for when next-gen G/R8 come out. Lamborghini is about to become a lot less exclusive.

 

Just my take on it. Forget about everyone and everything else and buy what you think looks cool and what you like. And in the end, people do a lot more damage to the brand than the brand could ever do on its own. Fist-pumping blinged out LP640 driver? People who rev at red lights? Fanboys?

And I think you are overestimating my estimation of the damage being done. The Aventador is another matter altogether and has nothing to do with what's being discussed here.

 

Thanks for the advice on ignoring these things but it's not like I am taking a huge offense on these SE cars. At the end of the day, it's just a conversational piece from a post on a forum --- just like what others have done by making their posts. If everyone follows your advice, then there wouldn't be a forum as there would be hardly any posts made. Actually, I don't think Patek ever made a SE watch that's not what they claim it is. But you would neither know nor care so the point is moot. But despite that, you brought up the point so to take a quote from you, it's best for you to ignore it. You live in PRC, why don't you try to tell the people around you that Lamborghini made a special edition car for Japan that's exclusive to their market. I like to see what their reactions are. Before you answer, allow me please: many will response by saying "then where is our special edition for our market?" And yes, it would feed into your argument nicely. By to specifically address your comment on "the only people who are going to tell you that you bought a gay, ugly Japanese flag Gallardo are on this forum", there surely will be plenty plenty more people at where you are opposing to the Bianco Rossso LP560 than the total members on this forum.

 

It's probably fair to conclude that a good number of people here are the founders and/or the movers & shakers within a corporate. And even if they aren't, it'll be fair to say that many are especially cognizant of what corporate is. No one wrote a check for the RWD car because it was a lesser car and it was also marketed as a lesser car. It also serves as a solid proof that despite the "special" paint job and the "very special" name the car was christened; added by a tag inscribed with a "special" signature and a "special" dedicated number for each one, hardly anyone jumped at buying the car because there really was nothing special about it; solid evidence that the public knows when something is indeed special and when it is not with sales results to match.

 

You answered your own skepticism on Lamborghini losing its exclusivity. But where that analysis failed is that the R8 is made by Audi; Lamborghini's parent. Audi would be head over heels if a number of people would jump ship to a R8. It's direct revenue straight to their own pocket rather than having revenues taking a detour to Lambo first and then a percentage of it comes back. And although I already said the Aventador has nothing to do with this thread, for your sake let's just bring it back for a short while: it seems that there's at least one member here who is a fan of both the R8 and the Aventador. And are people really jumping ship and never looking back again?

 

I acknowledged it's just your take on it and I have no problem with that --- as already afore-explained above. And yes, at times, people do more damage on the brand than the brand could on its own; not unlike how one might just paint oneself into a corner.

BTW, nothing is directed specifically at your or anyone else. You just happened to buy an SL recently.

 

I think the Aventador is valid because the discussion is one of brand, not model. The model is gone in a year anyway. Next car might not even be called the Gallardo, thus distancing itself from any damage associated with the name.

 

Having an ugly gay car was only in jest. I was merely alluding to the fact that no one other than enthusiasts would be able to pick out a special edition car. To 99.99999% of the world you would just have a weirdly painted car and questionable taste. That to me says that the impact on the brand is minimal. I'm pretty sure I've seen Italian colored cars and such too, but I just assume they are custom paints. Without seeing the press release -- and most people don't unless it makes national news haha -- seeing that special Chinese 458 with the dragon stripe would just make me think it's just a decal some guy put on his car. I see that stuff all the time, and worse. Enthusiasts might pick it out of a crowd, but the vast majority of sales don't go to enthusiasts. I'm inclined to believe that corporate is well aware of the overwhelming opinions about their special edition cars from people on the forums, but I'm guessing they just see it being more beneficial to business than harmful.

 

To be honest, I have no idea how easily they sell these cars or if anyone at the premiers buys them, but it could very well be the case that they make X amount of these cars, stick them on dealer floors, and then sell the ideas of special editions to unknowing people who come in just looking for a Lamborghini.

 

I believe the Balboni failed because it was in fact an attempt to market to enthusiasts. Enthusiasts asked for something, and so they delivered something -- RWD and a name that was known to enthusiasts. Enthusiasts saw it for what it was though and no one bought one. I don't know that they marketed them to enthusiasts specifically, but that was my impression and I think they learned their lesson. I think it also had some suspension problems, but I didn't follow it. Anyway, they've since re-named it to the 550-2 and made it a regular model. I haven't heard anything bad about it yet and I think it's actually quite a good deal if you want a brand new car.

 

No, of course they aren't jumping ship and never looking back, but I was just trying to point out that there should be bigger concerns among Lamborghini fans when it comes to exclusivity and such. Is it worse that there are bullshit special editions, or is it worse that there is an exact duplicate car with a different body style for $50-80K less? It's like when R8 owners complain about having the same interior features as the Ax. It's kinda shitty when lesser cars get all the same stuff. I guess it depends on how much importance one places solely on the exterior. The Gallardo will always be a Gallardo and an R8 will always be an R8, but enthusiasts are wise to all the platform and parts sharing going on, and I can see how that would be unappealing for some die-hard Lamborghini fans. Of course, the R8 is probably the best thing to happen to Lamborghini so long as you just like good cars and not brands.

 

 

I could live with the interior, but the other stuff....It's crap.

By this methodology, if you added any options to your car or you picked a color; It is a Special Edition G!

06 SE, Nera, 08 SuperG, Bi-calore, new Super G. these all seem to be cars in high demand and they are all special edition cars that did not sell well when new. interesting??

BTW, nothing is directed specifically at your or anyone else. You just happened to buy an SL recently.

 

No problem, all's good. But you seem rather fixated that I bought a SL and incidentally, I wouldn't call more than a year ago "recently". In between then and now, there are already some changes in the stable and more changes are on their way very soon; none are Lambo's. Those who know me knew what I'm referring to.

 

Fact is, for a manufacturer who hasn't have a replacement model in almost 9 years while their major competitors had already advanced 2 generations, that's very sad. Sure, the resources available for the 2 brands are incomparable but trying to market the same car over and over again by just slapping different colour paint and leather, calling them special editions and charging a premium for them is just lame. If exclusivity is Lambo's game, then cut down the production, apply Ad Personam to every car (i.e. tailor each car to the buyer's desire, however far-fetched) and charge the moon for it. Sure, enthusiasts probably still dislike the idea as who knows what abomination might roll out. But at least the exclusivity, for better or for worse, is valid and the marketing spin associated with that would likely be more successful. Of course, if part of the option is performance-oriented, that would even be better.

Wow! That looks tacky...

so, which countries are due for a special edition then? I'll assume up and coming economies:

India

Brazil

Russia