Ferrari LaFerrari vs Mclaren P1 vs Porsche 918

No question Ferrari's F 70 sale strategy is pushing buyers to McLaren's P1.

If the part of your post on F70 demand and price it could fetch is correct Ferrari is leaving 1.2 million USD times 1000 units on the table. Personally I think the number is closer to 800K times 650 about 480 million USD.

 

No other manufacturer can afford to do the same!

 

i will take your word for it, that driving a KERS car is fantastic, but i remain wary of the 'gimmick' factor. And in terms of turbo lag, i've driven some powerful turbo cars, for example both Veyron and Veyron Super Sport and found the turbo lag to be quite minimal and so it would seem that McLaren could be similar which to me was very enjoyable without having any push button horsepower aids.

 

I've driven Veyron's as well but keep in mind those were designed without KERS so they had to design in little trubo lag. If you don't have to worry about turbo lag you can make much more HP from the same displacment and use KERS to fill in the torque between turbo lag.

You can, as we have in P 4/5 C, program KERS to come in when needed without any imput from the driver through the foot throttle. Button Boost is only if you choose to use it.

 

Ferrari always say they'll build 1 less than they think they can sell but everyone here knows that isn't the case. Ferrari tells it's customers that the Enzo (for example) will be limited to 399 units but most of us know the real number is closer to 500. Same goes for the F50, same goes for the SA Aperta and so on.

Not sure how many F70's will be built but you can be sure there will be more than Ferrari would have you believe. They can and will sell more than they claim to. They'll keep the customers happy with the "official production numbers", not that many will really care. 8-9 year old Enzo's are still trading for over $1MM despite the imminent introduction of the F70. It will be interesting to see how much they go for once the F70 is here and how much the first F70's will be flipped for. Double the MSRP doesn't seem unlikely to me.

 

If the flippers get 2X msrp as they did with the Enzo Ferrari will have left a ton on the table even though as you point out they'll make more than they say they will.

 

Ferrari are determined to ensure there are no Flippers, indeed they are working on a scheme to retain title themselves certainly for a few years. This is from the horses mouth, no pun intended.

 

It was a great pun anyway!

 

This was a failed strategy with the F50 - at least in North America - and I recall them saying they wouldn't try it again.

>8^)
ER

 

Thanks - Have to say I sort of enjoyed it too....

 

There is no doubt that Ferrari plays this game very well. But from my perspective Ferrari's marketing strategies provide grand opportunities for campanies like McLaren. All they need to do is produce comparable road cars. Didn't McLaren accomplish that task in 1994 with the F1. The last time I checked they are holding their value extremely well. Also, these smaller companies have the ability to change course relatively faster that their larger counterparts. I assume this may be the reason that McLaren has not announced their final motor and gearbox specifications for the P1. I suspect once Ferrari advertises their HP spec's McLaren will be right behind.

A great time to be a witness to construction of the worlds greatest road cars for sure.

 

Try telling that to the management......

 

...in Ferrari's shadow, following their every move as usual

 

McLaren were well ahead of Ferrari when they released the F1 to the world in 1992 - three years before the F50 arrived. F1s are now trading for a 5x multiple of their original price - performing like no other car built in the modern era and far better than many traditional investments over the same time period even.

Side note: Pouring your million dollars into AAPL in May 1992 at $15/share would have done better for you but I doubt many thought to do that or hold onto it quite this long. If someone did they made about 4600% return.

McLaren are heavy into the development and certification of the P1 already. They plan to have cars in customers hands by the end of 2013. There would be no way for them to change course dramatically to counter Ferrari's offering. They refrained from releasing their specs to prevent Ferrari from doing what you suggest as it is well known in the industry that Ferrari were trailing them in the development time frame and would have had time to react a bit if McLaren had told the whole story in Paris. It appears now that both will release specs of the new cars early next year - McLaren are scheduled for a Geneva reveal of the production P1. Ferrari is rumored to be doing the same or perhaps sooner.

>8^)
ER

 

I agree brilliant and although they are at 70% capacity they have never made as much money as they are now....

No other manufacturer managed to produce 1 less than demand and still make a ton of money. This is also why they are limiting production of the F70 although they could sell at least 50% more than what they say they will....

 

Lets see if I understand.

They recently spent a LOT of money to raise their capacity.

60% of this new capacity is still unused.

They could sell much more of their product for much more money than they will utilizing this unused capacity that they spent a lot of money for but choose not to because they always build to less then demand, not by one unit but by a lot of units as proven by the flippers market price.

Still not feeling it.

 

Maybe you would but I waay past dealing with Ferrari's BS on sales and service. There's a fresh generation of suckers out there and I'm not part of that group anymore.

 

There are a number of us who no longer are.

 

HaHa. I guess you missed that class on the "new" math!

 

I guess I did and somehow I'm glad I did.

 

Regarding the F70 purchase inquiry, were you serious about it and, if so, have you exhausted all possible options? Could it just be down to your dealer or have you tried talking to others (or even FNA)?

 

Explains a lot.

 

Oh please with all due respect but this is step 1 in a 100 step process so yes I've been there. First of all, with regards to being serious, yes I have put down 10% non-refundable monies in the past and willing to do that for the F70. $150,000 non-refundable money is serious interest. With regards to 'all possible options', you have to work with your dealer that you have purchased several cars from in the past. If you think (not saying you do), calling some random dealer that you have NO purchase history with is going to get you on their f70 list, well you haven't been playing the game long enough. And FNA?? Please... It's easier to work through Congress than FNA. All they will do is put you back in touch with your local dealer where you started. But now your local dealer is even more pissed off at you for going over their head that you have even less than zero chance. So yes I've done all these things...

 

Just mentioned "others" as you said you've owned 2 F40's and an F50, thought there's a chance that one or more of these could have been purchased at different dealers? Guess not.