Ferrari cancels the contracts of its European dealers

Via Automotive News, 12th of august 2008


Ferrari has canceled the contracts of its European dealers effective June 30, 2010, to restructure into a smaller network of so-called A- and B-class outlets.
Some dealers, mainly in Germany, will be no longer allowed to sell Ferrari cars in the future.
The current German network contains 19 dealers and 3 service centra.
According to one German Ferrari spokesman, half of the European dealer network would eventually dissapear.
France currently has 12 dealers, Spain 4 dealers and 2 service centra, Belgium 3 dealers, Portugal and the Netherlands only 2, Luxemburg just 1.

 

I saw this in the main section. Amazing.
I didn't see any numbers for the Swiss dealer network. I assume they are affected in the same.

 

It doesn't surprise me. I've had a lot of bad service from main Ferrari agents here in the UK. And that is pre-sale as well as after-sale!

 

Not the way to get closer to the customers.
The Ferrari Deutschland Zentrale in Wiesbaden is shut down too.
If you want to talk to someone beyond your local dealership you'll need to call Maranello directly.

Dealers here are not amused at all to hear: Your showroom is not good enough, the shop isn't clean, the figures not like in Moskau, etc...

cinque

 

This is indeed bad news does anybody know which dealer contracts are canceld?

Martin

 

Still... it’s strange... The California is aiming for a larger public and Ferrari obviously wants to sell many of them to new buyers... Then why would they narrow down the dealer network now? Where will all those cars have to be maintaned? It doesn’t make sense...
Will they slightly upgrade the many non-official but capable Italian car specialists into B-class outlets maybe? (Like Gipi in Brussels for instance?) I don't see that happen...

As for the Benelux... Garage Monza near Ghent (Belgium) opened a completely renewed full spec showroom and work area in a new building only last year... Kroymans in the Netherlands is also re-building. Munsterhuis in the Netherlands opened a new showroom not that long ago after the previous one was destroyed in a fire a few years ago.
And the building of Ferrari Antwerpen is not THAT old either, it should be about 8 years now since they moved to their new location in Wijnegem if I remember correctly...
Brussels then? They’re in Waterloo only since max. a few years.
And Luxemburg is the only garage in a nation that is known for its good tax-climate... so I can’t believe to see that one dissapear either...

BTW, seeing the numbers of the dealers around West-Europe (note only the numbers of the dealers in the West-European dealer network where shown in the article) makes clear again that Belgium is in a rich position with its 3 official dealers Certainly compared with larger populated countries like Spain and the Netherlands.

I believe I’ve read once that Germany was the main market in Europe, followed by the UK, Italy, France, Switserland and then... Belgium. Not bad for a country with a population of about 10,5 million.


Alexander

 

Opening the letter: And the victims are:

Isert in Bayreuth
Blöchl in Osterhofen
Modena Automobile in Völklingen

Tamsen, Kroymans & Lueg lose one of their dealerships

Lais in Stuttgart: probably shut down too
Not sure about Mori Schoeberl in Ingolstadt who is planing a new showroom

New is "Mille Miglia" in Starnberg since August 2008 (used to be in Rosenheim)

 

5 Dealer will survive:
Foitek, Urdorf
Hasler, Basel
Leirer, St. Gallen
Zénith, Lausanne und Sion
Kessel, Lugano

Fired:
Modena Cars, Genf
Symbol-Automobile, Matran
Sudan, Zug
Nemeth, Hinterkappelen

No impact in your neighborhood

cinque

 

Thanks Patrick.
Leirer and Foitek are the two I use.

How you doing? Heard you met up with Andrea and the Maserati GT-S.
Is it really as good as he says?

 

A Fantastic car if can afford the fuel. I like the design, performance, sound and usability.
Just the suspension setup (buttons) is quite limited - as you can imagine, the 20" wheels are sporty but
not soft enough downtown where the tarmac is bumpy and potholes everywhere. If you push soft, the exhaust flaps also shut.

BTT: For a dealership the area must be very wide to generate enough business volume & profit.
(to waste later for glass palace & carrrara)
And Maranello will squeeze out the most from their sales net without giving discount to anyone.
Dealers are like predators. Compare it with the revier of a tiger or eagle: No brothers and sisters are tolerated within the claimed area.

cheers,

cinque

 

Both Foitek and Leirer have recently had major improvements to their premises.
Leirer told me that they were advised by Ferrari that they needed to move to larger premises to allow Maserati and Ferrari to have totally seperate sales and display areas. They have very strict corporate identity and display rules for their dealerships. The new place looks great.

 

This is insane! Sorry I didnt read everything (Just on my way out) So who's going to run the "a & B" dealers? Selct few? The Factory?

 

Cinque - thanks details so far - do you have or would you post details all the other territories ?

 

Thanks for the info cinque. I hope they don't close Lais in Stuttgart, that would be very very bad

Martin

 

Lueg Dortmund I presume Cinque?

Gr. Martin

 

Great info indeed!
Would be intrested to know about the other countries too.
Time will tell.

Simon, you say that both Foitek and Leirer recently have had major improvements to their premises too... and they can stay...
Like some major dealers in the Benelux area also had a significant upgrade...
Could it be a coincedence that several dealers recently upgraded their premises or are still in the proces of doing so...?
I don't think so...
Instead it could be safe to say that the Benelux won't be affected that much.

Any more recently rebuild dealers across Europe?

 

We remember Foitek and Leirer as successful challenge teams. Now, that seems to count.
The old Leirer showroom was not very representative, so Maranello was right to ask for some improvements.

Yes, some dealerships will transform into simple "service points" so the stranded customers are not 200 km away from official mechanics. Call them class B.
Future: Dealers are only in a few big urban spots to find.
The boss from Wiesbaden will move to Maranello to cover the market from there - responsible for a wider territory than just Germany. Big time for him.

This is all unconfirmed Buschfunk

cinque

 

Good - I hope that Salamanca in Marbella will no longer be a dealer. They are complete tossers and a nightmare to do business with. Their customer service is **** and they don't care. The only thing they are half way decent at is holding parties to launch new cars.

 

THX for this hint, I was in Marbella last year and could have a closer look on Salamanca, their yard is a nightmare to maneuver.