Ferrari chairman Luca Di Montezemolo to quit after 23 years

As I have said before, this is a bad move. I have followed auto manufacturers for many years even loading up on Jaguar stock predicting Ford would buy them...they did. Still have the Prospectus.

I think many are losing sight of the fact that Ferrari is a business....a very profitable business whose value is around the $7 to $10 billion range, depending on market conditions. Forget for a moment that they make cars, forget your egos that you can't get a La Ferrari or 458 Esp when you snap your fingers. LDM turned Ferrari around, brought it to the point it is today.....RECORD PROFITS! Record profits despite no F1 championships in recent times. Infinite Redbull Racing has championships but Infinite US sales were down 22% in August when cars sales in general were up. You don't take Mariano Rivera out of a game when he is throwing 100 MPH fastballs. Big mistake. F1 can wait.

LDM dressed in Armani was the face of Ferrari throughout the world. Aristocratic looking, impeccably dressed, well spoken.....what you expect from a representative of Ferrari.
Sergio on the other hand, don't want to be an ass but, looks like a crusty accountant or the owner of a New York pizzeria.

I believe the Agnelli family will want to separate Ferrari from Fiat and bring it private. It is also a possibility the Piech family will get involved in a major way as in a VW buyout.

Either way, I don't believe Ferrari customers will put up with a troublesome high end car that everyone on the block has. If Sergio's goal is to mass produce, he will destroy the brand and set it back a decade....

 

From what people say here the cap is 10,000 cars due to Ferrari not wanting to deal with stricter EU regulations.

I don't think going from 7,000 units to 10,000 is mass production. Remember Tesla is not even a needle mover on the global car market scale and they are doing 35,000 this year. They are a flea on the back of a Bull Mastiff. Ferrari will be making 1/3 of this amount going forward. Not significant.

Can't put ego aside. Want LaFerrari if I want one and when I want it. For those on the board who didn't get one and wanted one too they feel the same I am sure. Getting blockaded out of purchasing the car while the same small club of 499 people get the chance to buy and enjoy or buy and hold for later sale at profit hardly seems fair to us on the other side.

I reiterate that I welcome 10,000 cars and truly hope they build a LaFerrari for anyone who belly's up to the bar with cash. Let the enthusiasts get a shot at these masterpieces and enjoy them on the road rather than sit in a garage so they can flip in 5, 10 or 20 years for X times what they paid for it.

Would Enzo have wanted his cars to be driven like the incredible machines they are or sitting in garages gathering very few, if any, miles each year while they wait for the auction block? I don't think so. Enzo from what I understand used the road cars to pay for the F1 team. Selling more cars means more profit and maybe more funding for F1 and they can win again and again. What would that do for Ferrari brand?????

 

I agree 7000 or 10 000 is pretty much the same number. the reason they are at 7000 is to go higher would mean discounting. the current range is expensive which is excusable if the product were achingly appealing(too look at and drive) which it is not, the cars have limited appeal primarly tragetd at fashionistas despite the paper spec and virtues. Their attitude to customers now means that Hurucan, R8 991 turbos and Mclaren all have siphoned off potential customers. Attitude to customers means, product, dealership experience, ridiculous fawing over false consturction brand values etc. Its not like its a plus to be assocaited with owning a ferrari these days. Plus and this is a biggie the cars as good as they are, really are designed for peopel who cant really drive but want the feel of a fast car and a fashion accesory.

For all its paper specs, the F series cars lost me at the enzo. If you offered me a drive in a laferrari or and F40 its not even a question that I would take the F40, the Laferrari is a monaco cruiser no matter how fast it goes round nurbering. But yeah the favorite customer game, the new model to favorites to flip out after afew months game, its stale and old. Maybe some people dont work for a living so the gotta have it show is cool for them, maybe somne people have unlimited funds in the billions so they dont care and just want to play the game and be part of the club. But many of us who make our fortune large and small we find these brand management games insulting and shop elsewhere, that is why ferrari is stuck at 7k units.

So yeah if a change means more appealing product for a broader range of enthisiasts other than fashionistas, and if being a customer means morte than being a muppet, then yeah change is good.

Do I think sergio will pull that off. Well sweater man does not exactly have a great product streak. The 4c is cost cutter special despite its promise. The maseratis are selling and they do drive great now, but the styling, its really camry/buick with a bit of flourish round the edges.

Luca diluted the magic and expanded proft through useability and brand management. Where are we going now. Maybe with enough product range they can sometimes build something exceptional and purist, something with magic, even porche manages that every now and again. Large sales is certainly a price worth paying for some few really viceral products witht he magic.

Lets see, but dont hold your breath.

If I had to judge Kuca its that he saved the company, but the products left a lot to be desired in comparison with the design and dynamism of what came before. Yeah they were more reliable and useable, but at what cost, and mostly the design is walt disney. There is s reason why the 456 was ranked most appealing ferrari of the luca years, its because the design is classy, even if the rest drive dynamics etc leaves a lot to be desired. Luca was a showman, a great showman and ferrari a fantastic circus. If they did their job rigth Maclaren never would have gotten a foot in the door.

 

Sorry this just doesn't make any sense. You complain about FNA's practices and then say it's better that the head of FNA takes over all of Ferrari SPA.

Your odds just went DOWN, not up.

 

+1!!!

Things are looking catastrofic.
Many people here forget the greatness that ldm brougt to Ferrari since 1991.
This Maffionne is a digrace. I can't imagine 1 single Ferrari client who would like to sit at the same table as his. Charisma = 0. This guy has NO weight.

 

Life isn't fair, it should be amply obvious that's the case.

The problem is thinking that money should be able to buy anything, that just because you have the money you should be able to buy whatever you want. Ferrari bucking that really pisses some people off, and I'm glad they do (or did).

 

"It all depends on how far Fiat is going to go," Massini said. "Even if Sergio says they have no plans to raise production, people worry that they will. I would be happier if they reduced production to 4,000 to 5,000 cars rather than going for the big numbers like 10,000 or 20,000. In the early days, Ferraris were truly special, only the top people owned them. They should not become mundane like so many other luxury brands today."

https://autos.yahoo.com/news/whats-next-mr-ferrari-bids-184800622.html


I agree 100%

 

Betrayal! Luca could go on for another 23 years, reaching the age of... 90!

 

Money CAN buy anything but health and love. If I really wanted to blow a slug of cash today I could find an owner who would have his price and let me drive his LaFerrari away. Every owner may have a different price but I'd bet most are well under $5M. I just don't care to overspend but the rule that money can buy anything (but health and love) holds true for the most part.

There could be very few edge cases where no amount of money can buy a certain thing but those are far and few between. I've seen billionaires part with possessions for the right price. Not like they needed the money but they are not dumb enough to turn down somebody willing to grossly overpay for something either.

And yup when Ferrari does that as they did with the LaF it did annoy me. It also made me less endeared to the brand and I'm sure it did the same for others who had the means, owned one or more F cars and got shot down. I think the new CEO realizes this and that they are torching some major customers with this strategy.

Mclaren and others are now in the game with real competition. The 650S, P1 and the other cars that will sit both between and below them. I bet that the thinking is the shutting out of customers and long waits have pushed some of their clientele over to Mclaren and nobody likes to leave that much $$$ on the table (except Luca).

 

I guess we will see.
I think it would be very nice to see a new DINO type car (kind like the alfa4c only with stronger power and better finish etc)

 

Betrayal! Luca could go on for another 23 years, reaching the age of... 90!

 

+1! It's a disgrace, what's happened to ldm. Horrifying, those Chrysler/Fiat plans.
Ferrari will go down, no question about it.

 

Hope I don't need to remind 430 Driver that McLaren is a money losing company which is my point in all this. No company can continue losing money and exist for long. So is Tesla I might add, even with it's wait list. Fisker had a waiting list as I recall. Lambo I believe may be losing money also as they don't break that number out and can wash the numbers. If Bugatti was profitable, shouldn't they built 10,000 cars? Heck..."selling more cars means more profit".

Sure money can buy most things...including love for $10,000 a night in Vegas. That is NOT the point. Do you really think LDM cared that someone is pissed you can't have a LF from the factory...get over it, it's a car. Fairness has nothing to do with it. Saying that selling more cars means more profit is ridiculous. Ask GM. Ask Chrysler. Ask Tesla as their loses grow with more sales.

A new Ferrari was never a car for the masses. Rolex doesn't make a $300 watch, Manolo Blahnik nor Berluti make shoes for $49.99. An Aussie here can guess what the membership wait list is for The Melbourne Cricket Club---60 years? A friend waited on the list for 15 years for a mooring at White's in Catalina...he just got it. That is life....it is unfair. We all didn't get slapped on the ass by a Rockefeller when born.

It was never meant as a daily driver or grocery getter. It was always an exclusive car which is why it has survived the test of time. Hope it stays that way. LDM's exclusivity strategy has worked at a time when MANY have failed. To oust him...in my opinion is insane just because the F1 can't pull one out.

His last laugh could be a shot at turning Italy around.....

FYI----I have no intention of buying a new Ferrari....ever. So there is no bias here folks.

 

Awesome, couldn't have said it any better!

 

spot on! I've been a Ferrari customer for 2 decades, an enthusiast for over 3. When I wanted a Ferrari, I went to my local dealer, listened to what they said and followed suit. What's wrong with that? In return for my business, I've earned the right to special Ferrari's. Granted not something like a LaF but I understand, nor complain. The business I gave wasn't as good as someone else who deserves it. Not everything attained in life is about money and that's what makes it that much more desirable. I'm glad Luca did what he did. If it pissed off some and they went to the competition, so be it. Only made the brand stronger!

 

Tell that to the next generation who feel entitled to everything without having to work at it. These kids will not listen to the dealer's bs and patiently work their way to a special ferrari...they will just migrate to the other exotic choices available to them... The Ferrari marketing pitch cant be this way forever. Considering that more and more of our future generations dont show any interests in cars( so much there was an article in Car&Driver about this) car manufacturers need to be proactive in solidifying and strengthening brand loyalty. Things change, way of doing business change, and marketing change. Companies regardless of their pedigree have to look forward.... and having an antiquated speak easy type dealer network along with mostly lackluster car designs for the past decade are signs things need to change at Ferrari. While LDM may be heralded as the guy to turn things around for Ferrari, imho he is also the guy that is holding the company from moving forward... Which is not his fault or anyones fault, age, power, and the tendency for human beings to stay within their comfort zone does that to people and creates barriers to moving forward, an antithesis to the very nature of corporations to grow, expand, and move forward...

 

If true, isn't that darn close to fraud?..... I have no skin in this game at all, but I'd expect my Maserati lump at least to be built by Italian artisans, not a robot in Detroit!

That I guess I don't have such a problem with - They're most likely Bosch or MM originally after all.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Slight correction, Mclaren is profitable and ahead of plan,

MB


McLaren Automotive posts first yearly profit - Autoblog

 

Who is going to point the way ahead for new models? Luca di Montezemolo was involved into the smallest details. Who is going to do the marketing? Who is going to represent the brand? Once Marchionne begins intervening into development there will be technological stagnation, because he does not want to spend any money. His only innovation will be a huge ashtray in every new Ferrari.

Marcel Massini

 

Do you think SM will actually take too much of an interest in the finer details? I truly believe MM with his experience at FNA will be assigned to work on those, he has experience in that where is SM arguably does not.

There will be interesting times but I for one remain hopeful that everything will not be doom and gloom, there are simply too many good people at Ferrari and as a super leader as LDM was he was no doubt complemented by equally superb support structures.

I realize my view appears to be in the minority though......

 

First time ever profitable at $7.5 pretax. less reinvestment $ than chik-fil-a. Right on plan. ; )

 

Ouch!.....

And the iPad saves me again!

Post of the thread, right there! Doesn't matter which side of the fence you're on, but that's ****ing funny!

Cheers,
Ian

 

l'Epoca del Cavallino Rampante è finito... Ora c'è il Cavallino Caduto!

in other words: the era of the jumping horse is over... Now, we have the fallen horse!
Quote this wherever you like, no copyright!

 

Cute but a horse's azz might be more to the point.

 

take it down; possibly actionable. Just the lawyer in me :-(