Enough with the Flappy-Paddles only

Yeah what was the sales growth in China during that period, look at the gorwth in sales of otehr luxury products also attributable to china.. Ferrari opens new markets. I dont think sales in the uSa grew markedly. Add in the cali which is not really even a ferrari but an adopted maserati design and you have some sales growth due to product range expansion now slowing and slight retreat.

Ferrari sells an exclusive product to a wealthy clientale. Some actualy most buy the car for the badge and the prestige, paddles work for them. Others are into performance and the linkage to F1 and they like knowing they have the fastest even if its not used.

Others buy ferraris for the total viceral experience and the pure drive, those customers are not currently beign catered too. All of thes clients are not necessarily welathy but they may be well off enogh to buy a car they really really want. The cuplrit in the lack of experience in current ferraris is a sharp but devoid of feel steering, excess weight and girth(esp in V8s) and flappy paddles.

No doubt in time ferrari will come up with a product line to adress this more hard core group of buyers, just as they came up with a awd staion wagon for the eurosheik to go skiing and justa s they have various cars with ersatz F1 experience for those who like that and just as they have come up with the bimbo girlfrined ferrari aka cali.

Ferrari is a amrketing company a smuch as anythign else, they market a number of things which revolve around viceral and fast cars, they will cotton on to the ignored market and serve it, that will help sustain market sahre and sales.. A 430 with a stick given the nature of the motor dynamics did nto serve that amrket. What is requred is a car designed around that dynamic.

Once again how many 997.2 Gt3s were made per year, because everyone of those was sold on a waiting list. There is a market for sych a ferrari product, the car has to be designed witht hat market in mind, ferrari will cotton on and serve it. That is not to take away from fans of flappies, after all its ok to like somethign else.

 

The 911 GT3 allows this with the PDK (pull both paddles I think), specifically to induce power-on oversteer.

BTW I just ordered a manual R8 because it's the last chance to get the car spec'd with one. Unlike the 991 manual, the R8 manual is consistently praised as one of the best.

Would I have bought a 458 if they offered it? No, because I can't afford one! I thought about a 430 manual but I like the R8 better than the 430 < ducks behind desk >

 

My recollection is that the 15% number is based on actual statistics not a guess?

 

Good for you. I bet that r8 will retain higher resale value like we are now seeing in the 599.

 

I think you just like to argue.

Ferrari US sales have gone up every year despite there being a stock market crash and a major recession. They've gone up despite not having a spider version of the 458 for 2 years after it's introduction. They've gone up despite a major new competitor attacked them (McLaren). They've gone up even when Scuds had depreciation of up to 100K in one year. They've gone up even though the California is being changed over to a new model this year. They've gone up despite that MSRP's have risen 50 grand (from the 2009 F430 spider to the 2014 458 spider)

If you listen to the pedal pushers Ferrari sales should be suffering during this period because since model year 2009, you couldn't order a manual box of any model, period.

Yet, sales go up.

NOTE TO PEDAL PUSHERS: today's consumers are just fine ordering and wanting F1 boxes.

 

The numbers don't lie...