When was the golden age for supercars? It's hard to say, since every generation of these exotic performance machines outshines the ones that came before it in a constant and thrilling game of one-upmanship. But while the numbers they post may be constantly improving, the same cannot necessarily be said of their sales figures. Stephan Winkelmann expects that next year will be a difficult one for the supercar market. And as CEO of Lamborghini, he ought to know.

While sales are on the rise again in the United States (which remains the largest market for marques like Lamborghini), the European economy is still in shambles. That could explain why such niche automakers are bounding outside their usual scope of two-door sportscars. Lamborghini, as we know, is currently developing its first SUV (since the rare LM002, anyway), as are Maserati, Bentley, Aston Martin Lagonda and Spyker. Maserati also just revealed its new four-door sedan, Ferrari went outside its comfort zone with the four-seat, four-wheel-drive FF, and Bugatti is developing a new sedan.

These models aim to give their manufacturers a broader array of products and, it follows, a larger and more stable market share. Many of these companies are also opening a raft of new dealerships in Asian markets like the Middle East, Far East, India and Russia, where demand continues to grow. But with the Aventador sold out for the next year and a half and the new Roadster model just released, Lamborghini should have little trouble filling its order books.