By Steve Miller

Italy's super sports car purveyor Lamborghini this year will iron out details for dealers to sell certified pre-owned versions of its vehicles, to be supported with broadcast advertising.

"The certified pre-owned program will be launched worldwide, starting in the U.S. and Europe," said Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. "We are now facing discussions with our dealers to work out the details."

Winkelmann said the certified used cars will be available only via dealerships, which will be allowed to do "above the line advertising," such as broadcast spots. Creative for those spots, however, will have to come from Lamborghini, Bologna, Italy.

"We will handle that as well as our agency, and then the dealers can put their location and whatever deal they might have at the end," said Manfred Fitzgerald, brand design and director at Lamborghini.

The new program is a smart move for Lamborghini, said Jack Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book and Kbb.com. It gives authorized dealers a leg up on other luxury brokers that buy the cars from private sellers or at auctions.

"It is certainly ground breaking for a brand of this type to do what is typically more a gambit of the more mundane brands," Nerad said. "It might give a lot of people some piece of mind when considering the brand, as well. When you look at it, it appears to be a logical thing to do."

Lamborghini's sales worldwide last year grew 15.3% to 2,406 vehicles, per the company. North America represents 41% of Lamborghini's sales, while Europe accounts for 40%. Lamborghini has 34 dealers in the U.S. and three in Canada. Lamborghini dealers spent $100,000 last year on advertising, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Certified pre-owned, or used cars, are generally cars that pass a manufacturer's inspection—with some having as many as 160 different points of mechanical and cosmetic examination—before going on sale. In most cases, the certified cars can only be sold in branded dealerships, as in the plan Lamborghini is working on. The practice is common among other, nonexclusive brands like Honda.

"You've got a company that is looking to increase its overall sales in the U.S., and this is a good way of increasing brand recognition and awareness, and at the same time, selling more vehicles," said Tara Baukus Mello, lead market analyst at NADAguides.com, Costa Mesa, Calif. Offering certified pre-owned cars will not diminish the brand, she said, "You can't lose specialness when you are Lamborghini."

Ferrari, Lamborghini's prime competitor, has offered a pre-owned vehicle program in North America since 2003 and earlier this year announced a used program in the U.K. to certify seven of its models dating back to 1998. For that program, Ferrari uses a 190-point inspection process.

Maserati, another Lamborghini competitor, also has a certified pre-owned program in North America, offering buyers a one-year warranty or a total of 90,000 miles.

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