LV firm to stop selling Italian cars

Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2001 | 10:40 a.m.

Exclusive Inc. of Las Vegas, the sole U.S. distributor of Lamborghini luxury cars in the United States and Mexico, has settled its legal dispute with German automotive giant Volkswagen AG.

This settlement is part of a global move by Volkswagen-owned Automobili Lamborghini S.P.A. of Bologna, Italy, to phase out Lamborghini importers and distributors worldwide.

Under the settlement, Exclusive, which began distributing Lamborghinis in 1998 through 10 to 15 retail dealers in the United States, agreed to relinquish its distributorship rights to Automobili Lamborghini and the transition is expected to be completed by Jan. 31.

Lamborghini said it began distributing its vehicles, parts and accessories directly from Italy to dealers in the United States effective Dec. 31, but declined to reveal further details of the settlement.

The Las Vegas distributor sued Automobili Lamborghini and its parent company Volkswagen in January 2000, alleging they tried to force Exclusive to relinquish its distributorship by shorting supplies of the luxury cars to Exclusive, refusing to pay receivables, harassing Exclusive's dealers and implementing payment procedures aimed at injuring Exclusive's relationship with its bank.

The cars sell for about $265,000 in the United States and extraordinary methods are employed to sell them. Lamborghini sold about half of a total of 265 Lamborghinis produced last year.

Vik Keuylian, Exclusive's owner, could not be reached for comment on his plans for his Las Vegas business.