Ferruccio Lamborghini founded Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A in 1963 in order to produce a high performance refined car to compete with Ferrari and such other brands that were dominating the car market during that time. The company headquarters was in Sant’ Agata, Bolognese, Italy. The first Lamborghini cars appeared in the market in mid 1960s. The company progressed manufacturing several models that included the Miura that was very popular. In mid seventies the company was caught in the world-wide recession and went bankrupt.
In 1987, the Automobili Lamborghini Company was handed over to the Chrysler Corporation. Even this company in the United States was unable to sell enough of these cars to keep from going bankrupt. Next, the Lamborghini Company was sold to an Indonesian and Malaysian partnership, but this company was not able to make any kind of progress with this company as well. The last time that the company was purchased was by Audi AG of Germany. This was the company that was finally able to sell these cars and make progress with this company.
In 2007, the production and sales of the Lamborghini cars had increased by a large amount; however, in 2008, the company was beginning to see financial troubles once again. This was because customers were cutting back on their spending due to the economy, and they did not purchase expensive cars any longer. The making of Lamborghini cars has dropped dramatically to only 1711 cars a year, and there are only 831 people that are currently employed with this company.
There were a number of different models of Lamborghini cars that were produced throughout the years that the company was struggling. The first of these cars was the 350 GTV. This car was specifically designed for the Turin Motor Show that was held in 1963. This model of car became the 350 GT after it was redesigned. Only 120 of the 350 GT’s were sold. The 400 GT was different from the 350 GT because it was able to seat four people as opposed to only two. This model was better liked than the two-seated model, and the amount of money that the company made from selling these cars enabled it to begin working towards building more refined cars that pleased the public. In 1969, the Lamborghini Company manufactured the Espada, and 1217 of these cars were sold.
Between the years of 1971 and 1973, the Lamborghini Company was back in a financial crisis because of the oil crisis. Ferruccio Lamborghini was forced to sell his company one final time. He retired in Central Italy where he had his estate. After he passed away, his dreams of producing high performance cars lived on. These kinds of cars are still being manufactured by the Audi AG of Germany.
