LV company is in litigation over right to act as sole Lamborghini distributor

A Las Vegas company is suing German automotive giant Volkswagen AG in hopes of preserving its exclusive right to distribute Lamborghini luxury cars in the United States and Mexico.

Exclusive Inc. says in a U.S. District Court suit that Automobili Lamborghini S.P.A. of Bologna, Italy, and its parent company Volkswagen are trying to force Exclusive to relinquish its distributorship by shorting supplies of the luxury cars to Exclusive, refusing to pay receivables, harrassing Exclusive's dealers and implementing payment procedures aimed at injuring Exclusive's relationship with its bank. Volkswagen's Audi division purchased Lamborghini for $100 million in 1998.

Exclusive said it had succeeded Automobili Lamborghini USA Inc. in January 1998 as the sole U.S. distributor for Lamborghini products. Lamborghini S.P.A. had asked Vik Keuylian, Exclusive's owner, to take over Lamborghini USA because it was generating large losses prior to January 1998, Keuylian said.

Keuylian said Lamborghini USA was generating losses of more than $6 million in 1997 and he had to inject more than $3.2 million to buy its inventory, most of which was obsolete or had deteriorated, as a condition for taking over Lamborghini USA's distributorship rights.

Keuylian said he had been general manager of Platinum Motors of Santa Ana, Calif., one of Exclusive's 14 nationwide dealers and the largest Lamborghini dealership in the United States with about a 20 percent share of the U.S. market. Platinum Motors is owned by Nora Keuylian, Vik Keuylian's sister.

The cars sell for $240,000 to $333,000 in the United States and extraordinary methods are employed to sell them.

"Lamborghini automobiles are among the world's prized possessions, are designed and crafted by highly skilled engineers, designers and craftspersons ... and require extensive automotive experience and expertise to market and sell," Exclusive's suit said.

Exclusive said the defendants are now unfairly pressuring Exclusive to give up its distributorship rights after Exclusive, through Keuylian, successfully turned around Lamborghini USA's failing business.

"We sold 125 Lamborghinis last year, a little more than the previous year. But they've been cutting back our Lamborghini allocations. We were supposed to get 200 cars in 1999," Keuylian said.

"I greatly regret that Lamborghini and Volkswagen have resorted to tactics that are unbecoming of such sophisticated and well-managed companies. Exclusive has been forced to bring a lawsuit that it never wanted to bring," Keuylian said.

"Exclusive believes that its tenure as the national importer and distributor of Automobili Lamborghini products is well protected by a combination of the Nevada and federal dealer acts," he said. Joe Folz, a Volkswagen and Audi attorney, could not be reached for comment.

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