Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
Lamborghini opens 4th showroom in Busan
Federico Foschini, second from left, chief marketing and sales officer at Lamborghini, poses with Kwon Hyeok-min, third from left, vice chairman at Deutsch Automobile Group, during a ribbon-cutting event to celebrate the opening of the Italian carmaker’s new showroom in the southeastern city of Busan, Monday. Courtesy of Lamborghini
By Lee Min-hyung
Korea may soon surpass Japan in sales for Italian luxury supercar: executive
BUSAN — Lamborghini has opened its fourth major showroom in Korea’s second-largest city to expand sales and repair services for customers with strong purchasing power across the nation’s southern region, the Italian luxury carmaker said Monday.
The Lamborghini Busan showroom comes with geographical advantages, as it can cover growing luxury demand from not only in Busan, but also nearby major southern cities, such as Ulsan and others in South Gyeongsang Province, according to the carmaker.
Before opening its Busan location, Lamborghini, which entered the Korean market in 2015, launched three other showrooms — two in Seoul and one in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
The three-story Busan showroom was built on 2,710 square meters near Busan’s affluent Haeundae Beach area. It offers what it calls the “3S” services — sales, after-sales services and spare parts changes.
A view of Lamborghini’s showroom in Busan / Courtesy of Lamborghini
Federico Foschini, chief marketing and sales officer at Lamborghini, expressed hopes for its new showroom to help drive its nationwide growth, particularly in the south.
“We started around 2015, and in less than a decade, we have opened four showrooms,” he said during a press conference. “Our first priority was naturally Seoul and its surrounding areas because they serve as the nation’s economic hub with huge population,” he said.
“But Busan is Korea’s second city, and it has a big population, and people here are incredibly trend-sensitive, which made Busan our natural next step.”
The luxury automaker is rapidly expanding its presence with steady sales growth. According to its data, Korea ranked third in sales among its Asia-Pacific markets in 2024, following China and Japan, and seventh globally last year.
The Lamborghini executive underlined the strategic importance of Korea due to its rapid sales growth, unlike the two other huge Asian powerhouses.
“Korea is a market with massive growth potential,” he said. “It might not have the same entrenched culture as Japan yet, but the appetite is growing rapidly. I honestly think it is only a matter of time before Korea surpasses Japan in certain aspects.”
He said Japan’s exotic market is larger, but its growth rate is flat, which prompted Lamborghini to invest more in Korea.
Lamborghini’s sales in Korea began growing rapidly in 2019 with the launch of its Urus SUV. The carmaker sold a total of 173 cars that year, and the figure has since climbed to 487 in 2024.
Lamborghini displayed its key lineups to mark the showroom's opening. They included the Temerario plug-in hybrid supercar, the Revuelto high-performance hybrid supercar and the much-sought-after Urus SE with a plug-in-hybrid powertrain.
Lamborghini’s certified technicians will be based at the new showroom to offer inspection and repair services for customers. The Busan showroom is also equipped with the latest high-voltage diagnostic tools used to monitor its hybrid models.
Deutsch Automobile Group handles the distribution of Lamborghini as the official dealer in Korea.