A Chinese owner hired a "sledgehammer team" to beat up his 6-month old Gallardo in front of a large crowd after being dissatisfied with Lamborghini's services.

According to the owner's announcement that he posted on the internet, he decided to smash the sports car on the World Consumer Rights Day to vent his strong dissatisfaction with Lamborghini's services in China and Europe, and its downgraded standard for service providers.

It all started when the engine of his newly-bought sports car failed to start on November 29, 2010. After he had contacted Lamborghini's dealer in Qingdao, Shandong province, the car was taken to the designated maintenance shop with a trailer of a maintenance service provider entrusted by the dealer. The engine problem was not fixed, and the bumper and chassis were found damaged after the car was towed to the maintenance shop. As the owner pointed out the problem, the maintenance service provider apparently ignored his requests to pay for the damages. After that, the owner contacted Lamborghini's CEO Mr. Stephan Winkelmann, the brand's China headquarters, its after-sales service manager for Asia-Pacific region, and the brand's owner Volkswagen Group, but the problem was still not solved.

So, he came to the conclusion that there is no suitable means to protect his consumer rights, and felt that the best way to gain attention would be to destroy the expensive Italian car.

According to this now former Lambo owner, Chinese consumers are becoming more capable of consuming global luxury products, however, the global luxury brands focus on exploiting the Chinese market on one hand, and ignore the interests and rights of Chinese consumers on the other hand. The former owner feels that Lamborghini did not bring their world famous high quality service to China, so he felt that the only way to show his ultimate dissatisfaction was to destroy the car.

Because of high Chinese taxes, a Lamborghini Gallardo such as the one above retails for between $529,000 and $757,000, depending on specification.

More photos here: http://www.chinacartimes.com/2011/03/15/qingdao-man-unhappy-with-his-lambo-destroys-it-on-national-consumer-day-with-sledgehammer-team/