Sunken vehicles aboard the Felicity Ace will be replaced
Although the cars are now at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the tragedy of the Felicity Ace keep spilling ink. The freighter that sank on March 1 had nearly 4,000 vehicles on board, mainly from the Volkswagen group. Through Automotive Newsthe CEOs of the group’s high-end brands have affirmed that they will honor all orders that were destined for American buyers.
Among the charred carcasses languishing at the bottom of the sea were 85 Lamborghinis. Although the majority of vehicles stamped with a bull were Urus SUVs, 15 non-production editions of the Aventador Ultimae were part of the lot “This was the edition that closed the production of the Aventador,” said Stephan Winkelmann , CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, during a virtual roundtable with journalists from the UK and the US last Wednesday.
$500,000 Supercar
Handcrafted at a cost of over US$500,000 and limited to 350 coupes and 250 roadsters, the Aventador Ultimae caused some headaches for the marque’s executives, who had to scramble to find a solution to replace the now submerged Supercars. “We are able to replace these cars, so there will be no loss for our customers in the United States due to the sunken vessel. The Aventador case was tricky, but we did it,” added Winkelmann. The company will also replace the other models, but it did not specify how long it could take to finalize the operation.
Regarding the 189 pre-sold Bentleys on their way to America, the British luxury brand’s CEO, Adrian Hallmark, said the company had “found a solution” for the replacement of more than half of the vehicles, rerouting unsold models destined for other markets. As for the other cars to be replaced, they should be taken care of in the next six months.
Over 1,000 Porsches sunk
In the sinking, Porsche also lost more than 1,000 vehicles according to Oliver Blume, CEO of the German manufacturer. However, no details were provided as to which models were on the ship or on the replacement schedule. Remember that Porsche recently had to pause the production of several of its models due to supply problems caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
For Audi, more than 1,800 vehicles perished in the fire. Markus Duesmann, CEO of the German brand said that “we are able to replace them. It will take some time, but we will do our best”. At this time, Volkswagen has not issued any statements regarding its vehicles.
Cause of fire under investigation
The Felicity Ace caught fire on February 16 off the coast of Portugal. The ship was heading for the United States with a cargo of nearly 4,000 vehicles from various manufacturers, mainly belonging to the Volkswagen group. Despite attempts to tow it to port, the boat finally sank on March 1. The cause of the fire is not yet known but is currently under investigation according to an Audi spokesperson.
