Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S32

32 ❙ OCTOBER 17, 2016 PRESTIGE IMPORTS LAMBORGHINI, NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLA. SOCIAL SAVVY Dealer turns to new media to build Lambo buzz - and sales Printed in Automotive News May 16, 2016 Diana T. Kurylko dkurylko@crain.com ou can sell a $200,000-plus Lamborghini by spending very little on advertising and mostly using social media. Ask Brett David, CEO of Prestige Imports Lamborghini in North Miami Beach, Fla. Nine years ago, David, now 28, inherited the dealership that his late father, Irv, started in 1977. Ⅲ Using mainly social David primarily uses social media to media such as Instagram to showcase promote the muscular, agvehicle stock gressive-looking exotic cars he sells. He estimates this free form of marketing has generated between $5 million and $10 million in sales of new Lamborghinis and various used luxury cars last year. He also has a pre-owned inventory valued at more than $12 million. Through social media, David has created a worldwide fan base of more than 980,000 followers. More importantly, he's one of the top five Lamborghini dealers in the United States, on target to sell 85 new cars this year, up from 66 in 2015. Prestige also has Lotus and Pagani franchises in the same building as Lamborghini. Prestige sold a second Lamborghini store in Palm Beach in 2010 and its thriving auto Audi store in 2015. The Audi store sold for $80 million and was a top-selling Audi dealership in the country in the last decade. David said he got an unsolicited offer for the Audi store from Group 1 and decided to concentrate on Lamborghini. Y 'Social experiment' Besides, he rode out the recession with Lamborghini, raced the cars, and "when the others blew up, Lamborghini was the franchise that kept making money," David said. He also sold 48 used Lamborghinis last year and another 90 pre-owned cars - including about 50 luxury and exotic cars with a tag of $85,000-plus. David said he realized the impact of social CEO Brett David's goal was to build a brand not just for the store, but for himself. Bull market Prestige Imports Lamborghini's sales are rising. Ⅲ 2014: New 47, used 53 Ⅲ 2015: New 66, used 48 Ⅲ 2016 est.: New 85, used 80 media when he was 19, seeing what "car spotters across the world armed with a Polaroid or a $10,000 Sony SLR" posted on video sites. When his father passed away in 2007, David decided to follow that route. David said he launched his "social experiment" using Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to "build a brand, not just on the dealership but to build a brand around myself." The decision to stick with just exotic brands was fueled by an observation during the 2008-09 decline: "A lot of the consumers - especially in Miami - would lose their house and business and their family, but they kept their Lamborghini. It was assbackwards living." There's also a plus to being in Miami. Many customers have other homes throughout the world. In 2007, David said, he was selling to the local doctor, entrepreneur or real estate and finance mogul. These days, it's more likely to be wealthy buyers from Venezuela, Brazil or Mexico who keep their Lamborghinis in Miami, where it's more acceptable to show your wealth. Touch, look, photograph One early project that created a massive buzz on social media was commissioning Miami graffiti artist Jona Cerwinske to "tattoo" a $244,000 white 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo coated with 3M clear wrap with black permanent ink Sharpie markers. The car was displayed at rallies, at car shows, on YouTube videos and on other social media outlets, he said: "We were developing a huge social network sales platform." David said he gets up to 70 inquiries a month, and some of his largest sales came from inquiries about Instagram photos. One led to the sale of a $2 million Pagani Zonda Revolucion to a collector. David said the buyer owns more than 20 exotic cars, but he wouldn't give more details. continued on next page

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