Ferrari factory strike?

I just saw this article linked off a page I was reading on the America's Cup. Interesting.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml;jsessionid=V05SWVN43Z2BPQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/money/2007/05/07/cnferrari07.xml

 

Interesting. First I've heard of this... I guess US wait lists won't be getting any shorter...

 

Ferrari should open up a factory in Detroit and hire all of those people that GM and Ford are kicking to the curb... just think you could order an F430 and have it in a couple months! Then again... it would probably fall apart at the first corner and the interior leather would be replaced with plastic and vynil...

 

Interestingly, Ferrari was recently voted as one of the best places to work in the EU.

I have been to the factory several times and it really doesn't look like any other facory I've ever been in. If FIAT factories looked and functioned like Ferrari, FIAT would be the world's largest carmaker

 

I guess just because it's a fun/exciting/dream place to be with the whole Willy Wonka Factory atmosphere to it doesn't mean they can't decide they deserve more money... Maybe someone should give them a history book about the unions in Detroit, and how that helped the workers in the long run...

 

"The strikers said the Ferrari factory, where the F430 and F599 models are produced, increasingly resembled one of the mass-market factories run by Fiat, which owns Ferrari."

This is interesting because I was thinking that after seeing 360's everywhere that Ferrari was starting to somewhat "mass produce" cars now. It's not as exotic a brand as they once used to be.

Sad to say I'm not surprised by the strike. I have a lot of respect for the employees for taking a stand, and not just trolling along in their jobs like robots. They obviously care a lot about the Ferrari brand, not just what they do on a daily basis. You gotta love employees like that.

 

very interesting. and a little aside...the factory is in Maranello, not Modena as the article refers...i've noticed this happens quite often...these are two distinct/seperate cities, yes???

 

Yes. But if I remember correctly Modena is a much bigger city whereas Maranello is more of a town outside of it. The Maserati factory is in Modena.

 

Very interesting article.

I wonder what "disturbing a tour of journalists" refers to.

 

Alex

As a share holder of FIAT I can tell you that it's not the worse thing to own.
Their factories are vastly improved as is their product and their sales are up nicely. Sergio Marchionne has done a great job in working with the unions to turn FIAT around and their 12 month stock performance of 12-29.88 is more than satisfactory.

Best

 

chase, your replies are spot on and funny on top of it!!!

 

Unions are complaining that, due to the higher production volumes, quality is going down the drain. They claimed that warranty costs are spiralling out of control because of that and that it is just matter of times that serious mistakes potentially leading to fatal crashes will be made.
In addition to that it is claimed that the management makes structured use of overtime (against Italian law) instead than hiring more work force. And by the way the strike initially will mean that no workers will make overtime anymore.
On top of everything the split of production incentives is highly unbalance towards management, leaving to the work force just peanuts.
This is just the extract of a union press release.
Ciao
Eugenio

 

if the unions are right, and probably there is some truth in it, then it's quite
a bit of a bummer, especially the worries about quality...

 

Twenty years ago, a new 8c Ferrari ran around 75K$. Today, they're less than twice that. By comparison, a new M3 is about three times it's '87 price.

When Ferrari is keeping their price inflation down, something's got to give. The gap between Ferraris and other marques -- in price and quality -- is closing. Perhaps this is a reflection of a more "egalitarian" era: the rich just aren't that much richer.

And they are producing far more cars than, say, the 14 California Spiders produced in the "old days".

Or maybe it's the P4/P5: When a "plain" Enzo just isn't exclusive enough for some people, ...

Irony: The (oft crashed) Enzo is named after someone who thought a mid-engine V12 would be too much car for the "public" to handle. (Which is why the V6 Dino was Ferrari's first mid mill road car.)

 

Probably closer to 2.2 times the price 20 years ago, but still better than 3 times.

Gary

 

"The top 800 engineers work on Formula 1 cars."

Doesn't sound good for Scuderia Ferrari.

Looks like buying a used 360 instead of just waiting for the 430 order to be filled was a good idea.

Alos, doesn't sound like 430 prices will be going down real soon either.

 

Excellent idea... in fact, everyone should sell their 430's and buy 360's as they were built with far superior quality..... Off-topic from that: Anyone want to buy a 2001 360 Spider Black on Tan 6 Speed with ~9k miles... ?

 

I was at the factory about three weeks ago with P 4/5. The line looked great, everyone seemed happy and the quality and care seemed excellent.
There was a bit of a slow down that day as many of the workers spent some time checking out P 4/5 but IMHO it looked like a great place to work and there were a lot of workers who looked to be very proud of their work.

 

its all your fault my 599 is delayed then. hope all is well jim.

 

I saw your's on the line. The purple seats looked....different.

 

i am glad you like it. trying to start a new trend

 

An excellent point...I would like to think that these gentlemen are much more the crafstmen and artisans than the stereotypical money grubbers. We leave behind us on this earth far more than our bank account.

But, then - perhaps I am just a little euphoric today for some strange red twelve cylinder reason.

 

Having lived in Europe and visiting Italy and the factory on many occasions, it seems to me that strikes last all of a day or so. In fact I've "suffered" through several of these strikes without even knowing anything was amiss.

 

Some strikes take place during lunch time when the linguine takes a little longer than usual.

 

Jim
I appreciate the point. I have some FIAT in my portfolio as well.
My comment is one of relativity however, where the Ferrari factory as it is currently set up and operating, is really worlds apart from mass auto producers who have to deliver the volume, sometimes over the quality.
Can you imagine Fiats with the same attention to detail as Ferraris, yet priced where they are. No-one would be able to compete.

I agree that Marchionne has done excellent work in creating a motivated workforce who are producing a highly regarded car, but they are Italians after all and they threw out the one German who could have made a real difference at Alfa-Maserati. I was unhappy about that. I hope the same fate doesn't eventually befall Jean Todt.