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LAS VEGAS -- Turns out you can't spell Lamborghini without L.A.

Automobili Lamborghini has created a separate sales arm for its North American operations --the first such business unit outside of Italy. It will be headquartered in the beachside Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica.

North America represented 41 percent of Lamborghini's 2,406 units sold in 2007. However, California represented about one-third of North American sales. Taken singly, California would have been the second-largest nationality, larger than sales in either Italy or Germany.

Although there was much debate whether to place the U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles or on the East Coast, the importance of the California market won out, said Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.

"While we will have to wait until the afternoons to call California from Italy, it was the best decision," Winkelmann said at an interview here, at the media launch of the redesigned Gallardo LP560-4.

"California is where the future trends are. It's where our PR agency is. It's where many of our buyers are," he added.

For 2007, Lamborghini posted a net pre-tax profit of 47.1 million euros ($72.8 million at current exchange rates) on revenues of 467 million euros ($721.7 million), up from an 18.1 million euro ($28.0 million) profit on 346.3 million euros ($535.2 million) in revenues in 2006.

Said Winkelmann: "It's the first time we've ever earned real money."