It’s a well-known fact that the economy is bad right now.  Foreclosure rates are at all-time highs, people can’t afford gas to put in their cars and they can barely get credit anymore due to tighter lending restrictions.

GM, Ford and Chrysler, among other auto manufacturers, are all cutting back and making fewer vehicles.  Slow sales have resulted in them making more small cars and fewer big trucks and SUVs.

Despite all this, it seems people who have money to spend are still buying expensive cars.  Automobili Lamborghini’s global sales and financial results for the first half of 2008 both hit record highs.

Lamborghini Murcielago

Automotive News reports that Lamborghini’s revenues for the first half of the year increased 9.6 percent to 277.4 million euros ($434.5 million) from 253.1 million euros.  Pretax profit increased to 35 million euros ($54.8 million) from 26.4 million euros, a 32.6 percent increase.  By contrast, Lamborghini earned 47.1 million euros ($73.7 million) for all of 2007.

Unit sales across the globe increased from 1,238 to 1,309 vehicles for the same period last year.  Lamborghini currently has 114 global dealerships, including eight new stores that opened in the first half of the year.  In 2004, the company only had 65 dealers.

Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said sales in the U.S. and Europe were stable, while the Middle East’s sales increased 40 percent.  Strong gains were also posted in China and Hong Kong.

“There is no brand that is immune to financial crisis,” Winkelmann said, “but we always produce less than demand.  We are conservative in our forecast.”