Ferrari chairman Luca Di Montezemolo to quit after 23 years

Sergio Marchionne is by background a lawyer and accountant, he is extremely smart and intelligent and he is also extraordinarily ambitious - he has an oversized ego and collects ceo and chairman titles like folks in the military collect medals.

He is a chain-smoking workaholic and financial engineer who has turned around Fiat and Chrysler and he clearly has major ambitions as to where to take this new company.

I think we all need to be very concerned that he views Ferrari as a means to an end to achieve greater short term results for Fiat Chrysler. I believe that is precisely why Montezemolo had to go. Montezemolo was focused on a strategy that kept Ferrari as a world class brand, but those plans would not have allowed Marchionne to maximize how Ferrari could add value to the overall Chrysler/Fiat empire.

Folks like Marchionne are not really concerned about the long term - their horizon is much shorter because they will have moved on and will not be around when the chickens come home to roost. Worst of all, they are so incredibly smart that they always find a way of rationalizing why an asinine decision really was for the greater good.

The one thing I can't wait for how he is going to turn around Formula I, which is the official reason given why Montezemolo had to go. Marchionne knows absolutely nothing about Formula I or racing cars of any sorts. More importantly he is devoid of the passion to drive this kind of effort.

I really wonder if we are not going to hear a year from now that Ferrari does not need to be in Formula I and shut down that effort and save $ 300 million a year - I think all the other bean counters would break out into applause at that moment in time.

I guess only time will tell but I for one am very sad that Luca di Montezemolo will no longer be heading up Ferrari and that our wonderful brand is now in the hands of the bean counters!

 

He never claimed to speak for all of us - read his post again it's just his opinion

 

I'd be impressed if there was demand for 2000 La's but if there was I'd build them.

That would be 2B to their bottom line.

I think demand is about 700-800.

If I were CEO of Ferrari I'd Build La to demand.

Can FF's.

Fix the Calif's ugly butt.

Make an F12 Spyder and do a face lift to make it curvier.
Keep the coupe.

Make the TT458 replacement look like SCG 003 (LMP as GT) and race the piss out of it Factory and Customer Cars in GT.

Make and Race an LMP1

Make LMP2's that Customers could race and Factory race them at Daytona and Sebring.

Do my best with F1 but spend a lot less. insist the technology has relevance to road cars, and find drivers with more personality.

Welcome fans into Ferrari's world even if they only aspire and can't afford one yet. No more 2K rubber chicken Hospo tents.

No more 3K cupholders.

Make parts as MB does for EVERY Ferrari ever made.

Open factory tours to non owners.

Make radio/nav systems/MUCH more user friendly.

Get rid of 50 badges and Horses per car.

Bring PF into the Ferrari Tent.

I could go on but in the mean time remain the Humble CEO of a much smaller car company that so far has one sale, one sale pending and a number kicking the tires with a dream to finish 1 OA at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in 2015 and sell enough car to homolagate to be able to race Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring as well.

 

All I know is Marchionne would be totally out of place in this picture:
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Could not agree more. Ferrari left way too much $$$$ on the table and left many would be owners of La's wanting something that they could not get because they were not hand picked. I'm one of them.

I think however that demand would be higher than 800. I'd be surprised if they could not sell at least 1200 to 2000 of them. Plenty of high end 1 percenters who would love to put one in their garage. They could even find a better price elasticity and maximize profit. The intersection of a LaFerrari priced around $1M to $1.3 max might have sold 2500 and padded the profit the most.

Even if your estimate is closer to reality they should be building to demand. Let owners come in and plunk down a sizable non-refundable deposit and order a car customized for them.

I think it is an amazing car and its almost a shame to only put it in the hands of so few when many car enthusiasts like you guys and myself would gain so much enjoyment from it.

It has to be one of their highest margin cars by far. The R&D is all done. Casting the engines, building the CF body and everything else might have incremental cost of say 2x over the 458 at best. That is a ton of profit per car.

The inability for me to order one of these has soured me a bit to the Ferrari brand even. How the heck am I going to own two F supercars plus the other requirements when they won't even sell me one? Basically it is a very small club of people who get chosen and any other Ferrari mega-enthusiasts who have the will and money to buy and enjoy these cars simply cannot.

I'm hoping the new CEO maybe can remedy some of this and of course, keep the quality and brand intact. I don't think building La's to demand and pumping out a few thousand more cars will do much harm. After all you buy a 458 or F12 and it's going to depreciate a good amount over 5 years. So if it depreciates another 10 or 20 grand who cares. Let people own the cars if they want them.

 

I agree with you but I do believe there should be caveat of being a customer for at
least a decade and having bought 5 new Ferrari's before one is allocated a LaFerrari.
This way would be more effective and one would know exactly how to get one

 

Maybe Luca hates the sound of the California T, and doesn't agree on turbocharged for 458's successor, but the parent company wants to save money by developing turbocharged. You know, anytime you want to add power, you don't need to invest in engine development, just add some boost would easily give you 100hp more. Get a bigger vacuum cleaner would easily give you 300 hp more. This is not the case in normally aspirated.

 

Handing over a company to accountants is not a good idea. GM went hugely wrong when it did that. They are lucky to have survived it. I'm not happy that Luca is not there.

 

About Maserati, You said a lot of malignancy and inaccuracies :

- Ghibli and Quattroporte have NOTHING to do with a Dodge Charger
- The frames of the two Maseratis, M156 (long) and M157 (short) are both Maserati projects, expressly made for next premium cars and Suvs. It will be used on the new Alfas and on the other new cars of the group.
- The Dodge Charger frame (Chrysler LX platform) is a 2006 Chrysler project, also currently used for the Dodge Challenger, Chrysler 300 and Lancia Thema.
- The interiors are totally different
- There are no Chrysler logos on Maserati parts, neither on the V6 engines
- Current Maseratis are not low quality products, made in stinginess .
- The two new sedan Maseratis are built in a new and modern plant ( the ex Bertone factory), with over 800 millions of Euro investment. This new plant is a jewel .
- The next Suv will be made in part of the refurbished big Mirafiori plant, with an other big investment of money.

I perfectly know how the things are, since I live in Turin and Turin it is not so big...
I personally know people working on these projects, I know how good is their job, and the result of their efforts.

In next future please avoid to chat about things you don't know.

Ciao

Andrea[/QUOTE]

Next time you are in the USA go to Enterprise Rental Cars and rent a Dodge Charger or Chrysler 300 and look at the door handles, window switches, mirror switches, radio - it's all exactly the same as a QP or Ghibli - The V6 engine was NOT designed by Ferrari! if you look at the front of the engine block you can see where the Pentastar casting has been removed - It is a Chrysler engine! Remove most electrical control units and they also will have the Pentastar on them - the battery location and suspension are exactly like a Mercedes from when Diamler and MB collaborated and designed these cars!The "star network" CAN system and wiring, the Maserati Diagnosi has many Chrysler features not yet available on these cars -just remove a few parts and you will see how much Chrysler is in the new Maseratis -

"In next future please avoid to chat about things you don't know.".....EXACTLY!

 

Future?
Well, if that happens I am OUT. Forever.
Arrivederci Ferrari!

Marcel Massini

 

That would truly be awful, and I suspect many would follow your lead including myself.

I've met and talked with Marco Mattiacci, and he strikes me as someone who wants Ferrari to continue on the path that Luca set. If you don't mind my asking what are your thoughts on Marco?

 

Marco is fine and not a problem.
The problem are the bean counter(s). BIG time.
Let's talk in 18 months. I hope I am wrong.

Marcel Massini

 

Talk to your dealer. Especially the ones that have been long time official F dealers. Ask them what they think of the departure of LDM. If and/or how it might affect their own biz.
I spoke to several official dealers in the past 72 hours and most of them are rather unhappy.

Marcel Massini

 

Unhappy about what. Not knowing the future. Welcome to the real world. This is not the first change nor will it be the last. The fretting here is quite funny. I would hate to see what happens to some here if they spill coffee at dinner. Laughable.

Nothing SM has said portends dire lives for Ferrari dealers at all. If anything he just might make them richer and more responsive to the customers they say they love. Time will tell but this toy throwing reaction to LdM being paid 27m euro's to leave job and a company he did not own, is a joke.

He left / was fired. Another corporate employee released. There are far greater tragedies in this life.

 

I suspect McLaren Lamborghini Porsche et al are giggly over the prospects of a chink in the Ferrari armor. They will exploit it.

So if Ferrari stubs their toes it could get very painful real fast IMVHO.

 

I feel very strongly Ferrari will do well. It is an amazing dynamic brand. I do like the other marques of course as I love cars completely.

Overall I dont think we are going to see a weakend Ferrari. As Ive said and Napolis posted as well, I want them to support the classics better (parts etc) My word the heritage deserves it!

 

turbo is bad idea, better slower car but still NA

 

I do not really know if his leaving will prove to be good or bad only time will tell that . However I do know that Ferrari with its 7000 cars per years is in a very enviable position they make a very good profit and are able to maintain demand and price at the retail level like no other company in the world .. the licensing rights alone bring in massive profits and that is all profit. I know the Lamborghini arguably its most comparable competitor cannot maintain similar exclusivity with lambo any body that wants one and has the money can get one yet they build less cars then Ferrari .. Now I think Ferrari could build more then 7000 per year but the day they build one more then the market demands then entire pricing structure fails and they make less money .. as they struggle to sell this relaxes the overall demand as when the phone rings and the dealer says its your turn to get the new fcar there will be no sense of urgency..
SO only time will tell what will happen.. I suspect they know all this and will just gradually increase the production i mean if they build another 100 la ferarris they make a ton of money and it does not really change anything..but if they build another 1000 i believe the market for them will change drastically ..etc

 

An article in jalopnic says the hyper-rich are impatient and Ferrari is increasing production to keep them as loyal customers.

 

Next time you are in the USA go to Enterprise Rental Cars and rent a Dodge Charger or Chrysler 300 and look at the door handles, window switches, mirror switches, radio - it's all exactly the same as a QP or Ghibli - The V6 engine was NOT designed by Ferrari! if you look at the front of the engine block you can see where the Pentastar casting has been removed - It is a Chrysler engine! Remove most electrical control units and they also will have the Pentastar on them - the battery location and suspension are exactly like a Mercedes from when Diamler and MB collaborated and designed these cars!The "star network" CAN system and wiring, the Maserati Diagnosi has many Chrysler features not yet available on these cars -just remove a few parts and you will see how much Chrysler is in the new Maseratis -

"In next future please avoid to chat about things you don't know.".....EXACTLY![/QUOTE]

For the person that said the Maserati does not have a Ferrari engine in it, then why when I was at the Ferrari Factory they were building the V6 engines for the Maserati? Or did Chrysler ship those engines to the Ferrari factory so Ferrari could but the red paint on them?

 

Next time you are in the USA go to Enterprise Rental Cars and rent a Dodge Charger or Chrysler 300 and look at the door handles, window switches, mirror switches, radio - it's all exactly the same as a QP or Ghibli - The V6 engine was NOT designed by Ferrari! if you look at the front of the engine block you can see where the Pentastar casting has been removed - It is a Chrysler engine! Remove most electrical control units and they also will have the Pentastar on them - the battery location and suspension are exactly like a Mercedes from when Diamler and MB collaborated and designed these cars!The "star network" CAN system and wiring, the Maserati Diagnosi has many Chrysler features not yet available on these cars -just remove a few parts and you will see how much Chrysler is in the new Maseratis -

"In next future please avoid to chat about things you don't know.".....EXACTLY![/QUOTE]

For the person that said the Maserati does not have a Ferrari engine in it, then why when I was at the Ferrari Factory they were building the V6 engines for the Maserati? Or did Chrysler ship those engines to the Ferrari factory so Ferrari could but the red paint on them?

 

Just showed up on Automotive News, increased volume at Ferrari under SM.
http://europe.autonews.com/article/20140911/ANE/140919963/ferrari-will-build-more-cars-with-marchionne-as-chairman?cciid=email-ane-daily

 

Man, I picked the wrong month to lay off of f-chat.

After reading all 20 pages of this thread, I'm amazed by all the wailing, gnashing of teeth, and rent clothing. It has been obvious to me that Luca was causing friction with bad personnel decisions and a crummy F1 team for a while. Artificially limiting production and making up the difference with the merchandising of Cavalino baubles doesn't make sense to me either.

Remember my formula for Ferrari success? (4C + 458)/2= Dino 346. That seems much more likely with a 10K production cap than with a 7K red line, so I'm pleased as punch.

Take off the hair shirts.

Cheers,

George

 

I am very disappointed in the "possible" change of direction for Ferrari - if it happens - oh well i won't speculate

 

I am going to party with Lamborghini tonight....I'll report back...on the food and the babes....
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