How do you grow your business if you are allowed to sell only 7,000 cars a year? Ferrari is in that tough spot. Last year, they sold 6,500 cars with the prancing horse. To protect Ferrari from being mistaken for a brand that everybody drives, a ceiling of 7,000 has been established. (Don’t ask me why 7,000.) So how do you grow your business if you can’t sell more cars? Simple: Charge more. “Personal touches like cashmere-covered seats and gold-colored exteriors” can add 20 to 60 percent to the price, writes Bloomberg.(Read More…)
A federal judge on September 27 absolved the US Department of Justice (DOJ) from any liability after an FBI agent destroyed a $750,000 Ferrari during a joy ride. Motors Insurance Corporation had been seeking to recover the value of a 1995 Ferrari F50 that was in the custody of department officials. Motors dropped a separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit against the department on October 3.
Derek Kreindler’s provocative defense of the Maserati Kubang sparked off an interesting discussion among TTAC’s Best and Brightest yesterday, about the the macroeconomic outlook for luxury brands. Sure, the American economy is struggling to stay out of a double-dip recession, credit is no longer as available as it was in the pre-Lehman days, and some argue that worse is still to come… but for the moment, the high end of the luxury market couldn’t be doing better. Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes tells Reuters [via AN [sub]] that his brand will set a new sales record this year, and that the outlook for 2012 is good, saying
I have not seen any reluctance to consider buying a Rolls-Royce. I do not feel that sentiment is deteriorating in the luxury market. We are dealing with people who are unusually wealthy and never really have to ask themselves, can I still afford this or not?
And it’s one thing to just talk, but Rolls is also putting its money where its mouth is, initiating a $16m expansion to its Goodwood plant. And it’s not the only luxury brand that seems to be confused about this “recession” that the peasants keep going on about…
If Ferrari is known for one thing, it’s super-fast, good-looking cars. But if Ferrari is known for two things, that second thing would be its uncanny ability to separate the wealthy from their hard-earned (or not) cash. And apparently the brand is so good at extracting revenue from its super-wealthy clientele that it doesn’t mind a little competition. The Wall Street Journal reports that, when asked by the Italian paper Republica how governments should overcome their budget crises, Ferrari Chairman Luca DeMontezemolo replied
You have to begin by asking it of those who have most, because it is scandalous that it should be asked of the middle class
Class warfare, or just the natural perspective of a guy who regularly charges the super-rich $2,300 for Alcantara trunk liner and $1,800 for a spare wheel? We report, you decide…
Oh look, a convertible Ferrari 458. And, true to the brand’s nouveau-riche poser image, it’s one of those awful, complex, weight-adding, retractable hardtops. What’s that, Autocar? You say the 458 uses a “pivoting” hardtop like the 575 Superamerica (rather than a hinged system), and that actually it’s 55 lbs lighter than the 430 Spyder’s ragtop? Plus, it leaves space for a “luggage bench behind the seats”? Well, damn. Arguing with that is like, well, arguing that no sportscar brand should ever give up the involvement of the manual transmission. No matter how badly I want to disapprove of nearly every thing Ferrari does these days, I just… well, let’s just say they don’t make it easy. Bastards.
When the two extreme ends of the car world collide, there’s bound to be a at least a little tension. So when the first day of LeMons Sears Pointless 2011 overlapped with a track day for Ferrari Challenge customers, the clash of cultures was palpable. Especially when Team Kicking Ass pulled their “250 GTO” into the Prancing Horse’s garage and started snickering about “those cute six figure Ferraris” (i.e. the not-for-public-consumption 458 Challenge). Because real Ferraris have to be bought at auctions… even if they still have “Datsun” on the valve cover.
Ford and Ferrari finally settled their differences over the alleged trademark infringement by Ferrari. In cases like these, one lawyer usually tells the other: “What does it take for this to go away?” In this case, Ford’s lawyer must have answered: “Lose the F, or lose the case.” And that’s what happened. (Read More…)
In the brouhaha over Ferrari’s alleged trademark violation, Ferrari did the smart thing and surrendered. Ferrari withdrew the “F150” name for its new Formula One race car. Ford had brought suit in federal court, alleging that “Ferrari has misappropriated the F-150 trademark in naming its new racing vehicle the ‘F150′ in order to capitalize on and profit from the substantial goodwill that Ford has developed in the F-150 trademark.” (Read More…)
You think only China has a total disregard for intellectual property? Ford filed a trademark infringement suit on Wednesday against a foreign carmaker. The only thing this carmaker has in common with China is their love for the red color. Ford sued Ferrari for blatantly stealing the name of the world’s best selling vehicle, the F-150. (Read More…)
Ferrari Chariman Luca Di Montezomolo recently got a spin in Michael Stoschek’s homage to the Lancia Stratos, possibly one of the rarest treats in the car game just now. And even though it’s neither a Lancia nor a Stratos, anyone would be thrilled to drive one before they’re all locked into some climate-controlled bunker somewhere. But that’s not all Luca has to be thankful for: with a disastrous 2010 F1 season behind it, Ferrari is the center of speculation that Fiat will sell it off as it moves towards closer ties with Chrysler Group. Freedom from Fiat might mean an end to Lancia-branded one-offs based on Ferrari platforms, but given the depth of Fiat’s gamble on Chrysler, Ferrari would probably prefer to watch from a distance anyway. In fact, the only thing Luca probably isn’t thankful for this week is direct competition from the McLaren MP4-12C, which is launching at almost the exact same price as the 458 Italia.
Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, via its investment vehicle AMubadala Development Co, has sold back its 5 per cent stake in Ferrari to Fiat. It’s not that the sheiks were tired of Ferrari. Fiat wanted their shares back. Fiat had an option that gave it the right to buy back the stake that Mubadala had acquired in 2005 from Mediobanca, Italy’s largest investment bank for €114 million, domain-b reports.
Fiat paid €122m ($167m) to buy back the stock. Now their holdings climbed from 85 percent to 90 percent. Why would you want 90 percent in a small sports car maker if you already have 85 percent, and you need every penny of cash? (Read More…)
Ferrari may not sell you a new car if you haven’t already purchased a used model, but starting today the Maranello mob will let anyone into their new palace of branding run amok, Ferrari World Dubai. General admission is a highly reasonable (by Ferrari standards) $60, which is actually cheaper than a kids “Fernando Alonso” polo shirt at the Ferrari Store, and that includes access to the fastest roller coaster in the world, as well as 200,000 square meters of other Italian-sportscar-themed attractions. The opening had been delayed by the death of the Sheikh of Ras Al Khaimah, a neighboring Emirate, but according to the most recent reports, Ferrari World is opening today. Enzo would be so… er… something.
Did you know that Champagne, as we know it, wasn’t invented by the French? It was invented by the British. Christopher Merret documented the addition of sugar and molasses to a finished wine to create the bubbles in Champagne. This was six years before Dom Perignon (the supposed creator of Champagne) went to the Abbey of Hautvillers. And 40 years before Benedictine supposedly created Champagne. Merret presented his paper to the Royal Society which detailed the process now known as méthode Champenoise in 1662. Did that surprise you? Now check this out… (Read More…)
Ferrari is sending engineers all around to the world to investigate “thermal incidents”. Now what’s a “thermal incident” you might ask? It ain’t a mistake that happens in your long johns, that’s for sure.
It’s corporate speak for “that supercar which you lashed loads of money on may catch fire in a big way.” (Read More…)
As non-executive vice-chairman of the Swiss bank UBS, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has deep connections with the European banking community. Now, under threat of losing its primary lender Ally Financial to GM’s dreams of a return to in-house, subprime lending, Marchionne has leveraged that experience into a non-prime lending deal with a US division of Spain’s Banco Santander. Automotive News [sub] reports that Santander and Chrysler have reached a deal to provide loans to Chrysler customers with sub-650 credit scores that ChryCo reckons could result in an additional 2,000 sales each month. (Read More…)
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