Ferrari chairman Luca Di Montezemolo to quit after 23 years

With all due respect, that's nonsense. Sorry. That they produced more of them than any other model (?) is irrelevant. It remains a pretty darn "rare" car.

Beg to differ there too! It's been discussed extensively in the F1 section; the "average" (whoever that may be!) Ferrari buyer these days is more into posing on Sunset Strip and polishing the clear coat off than interested in what's happening in F1. Let alone going to the track and truly enjoying it.....

Cheers,
Ian

 

Luca increased the Maranello capacity to 10K per shift years ago. Current is 7K. That is fact.

As you say "Dinos" could be made in Turino.

Enzo made cars badged as Fiat's at Maranello when he need $ and to Homolagate the Dino engine for racing. (2.4L Fiat Dino Spyder)

Nothing new.

 

Agree. Interesting history between Ferrari and Fiat thru the years. I don't believe they will screw up Ferrari. They are well aware of the uniqueness of the marque......I hope.

 

In the today's press conference, Marchionne said he will not repeat the same mistakes made by others luxury car's manufacturers by increasing the Ferrari production in an unreasoning way and in the mean time there are no Suv of any kind in project.

It should be rather interesting to know the real amount of the sumptuous golden handshake of LCDM ...

Ciao

Andrea

 

…is now Ferrari History!

One of the greatest talkers in the automotive industry was dismissed today!

 

As a lifetime fan of Ferrari I don't think we could have asked for a better ambassador with a true passion to lead Ferrari. I do remember the 21 year slump of the Scuderia, and I think a lot of the credit for the Ferrari we have today belongs to LDM. I am optimistic that the future will hold great things from Ferrari and the Scuderia but I too feel its "truly an end of an ere..." and I'm sad to see him leave!

 

Second!

 

Of course, his way will not be an "unreasoning way" no matter what the production figures

 

... tilting Ferrari's gravy boat toward Fernando, ousting the most beloved, loyal driver in Ferrari history, blaming Felipe for Ferrari's problems, constantly haranguing and belittling Felipe's manager, Nicholas Todt, made Luca di Montezemolo look like a bully. Which he is...

Countless personnel mistakes, appointment of Nikolas Tombazis, appointment of car salesman Marco Mattiacci as team principal, the firing of Luca Marmorini, the promotion of Stephano Domenicali over Nigel Stepney evolved Ferrari into an organization of di Montezemolo yes-men, and proved beyond any measure of doubt, not only can't di Montezemolo choose his people well? Seemingly at random, di Montezemolo always fired the wrong people (Luca Marmouni).

Ink not yet dry on his brand new Ferrari contract, suddenly immediately thereafter, skipping out on the last few races of 2013, the re-signing of a disabled Kimi Raikkonen with serious back problems made di Montezemolo look aloof, feeble, weak and uninformed. Which he is...

Monumental mismanagement at Ferrari on an unprecedented scale, its F1 cars mopped up in international competition, its butt-ugly road cars the laughing stock of automotive design, this has been a long time coming. Heads should have rolled at Ferrari, 4 years ago. After Abu Dhabi, 2010, when Sebastian Vettel, a dark-horse for the title swiped both championships, right out from under Ferrari's nose, everybody scratched their heads, standing in disbelief, "... why is this guy's head not on a stick?" Too little, too late, finally it is.

Time has come, to burn it down and start from scratch - asj.

 

He was good for the sport and good for the team. Its a shame to see him go, F1 needs characters like him who can stand up to Bernie.
Frank and Ron are the only two who have the longevity to do that now.

I hope Fiat or whom ever is in charge now does not mess up the brand, LDM was fantastic at making everyone in the world "want" a Ferrari, that was not always the case.

If they start over producing or making cheaper cars the brand will loose its allure aka Porsche. Time will tell

Personally I would like to see a separation between the running of the road car company and the Race team. It takes an immense personality to do both

 

this guy. lol.

 

The road car division & the marketing soared under LdM's leadership. F 1 ... certainly not recently. The grand prix team is clearly underachieving given its resources, and it has done so for quite a few years.
These "overproduction" concerns voiced are interesting if you look at it from a historical point of view. Remember when the 246 Dino and 308GT4 were deemed -by Enzo, no less- as unworthy of carrying the prancing horse emblem? Who among us deems them to be non-Ferraris now? Nobody. In fact, the 246 is now worth approximately 23 times what it cost when new.
A Ferrari sport-futility vehicle would have no appeal to me, but a 612 doesn't really appeal to me either. So to some extent, as a previous poster cleverly said, "that prancing horse has already left the barn". If people want a 4 door Ferrari, so be it. Me? I'll take a $120,000 mid-engine V6 w/ about 385 HP, a manual trans, and a dearth of electric motors and nannies. Kind of Ferrari's version of a Lotus Evora.
Having said all of the above, if Sergio puts a fancy interior and panda hide head liner in the new Alfa and pawns it off as a $90,000 starter Ferrari? I'll be PO'ed right along with the rest of you!

 

Rare in comparison to a Porsche Boxster, but very common compared to other cars in its market segment -- Merc SLS AMG (under 2,700 made), Porsche GT3 RS, Ford GT (4,000) etc. Ferrari was no longer a rare car by the time 360 production was winding down.

Good to hear this.

 

When Ferrari profits at 7000 units per annum equal 12% of group profits, I'll bet they will look to boost production to 20 - 30K per annum. Should only make the older real cars more valuable. Not sure though what will happen to the higher volume 360s, 430s and 458s. Regarding really high volume, I guess they will leave that to Maserati and Alfa Romeo. The new Alfa's look really good, and I think they will achieve their volume targets.

If volume gets too high (Porsche wants to go from 100K to 200K per annum - not the same car company that made 911 / 912s in 6500 units per annum at the end of the 1960s), who will want what Ferrari make.

 

Particulary Italian ones

 

OK, but so what?

I don't buy my cars based on how many they made.

Those you reference I couldn't give a damn about. The SLS? Not even in the same class to me. The GT3? Nice, but it's still a Porsche. The Ford? Again, nice, but in the UK we refer to them as "Dagenham dustbins". No thanks.

A Ferrari OTOH is something very, very special.

To me anyway, it's about the history, the passion, the legacy, the beauty, blah, blah..... Not how many were made.

They remain a rare car. A long way from "mass produced".

Cheers,
Ian

 

A voice of reason with out all the typical Ferrari baggage attached.

I agree 100%

 

Thank you for all the great years, Luca!

I think many of you will now see just how important he was.

 

I guess my feelings are not about the future, or even potential increase in the value of our automobiles.

From what I am aware, Luca di Montezemolo was a long term employee, a leader, a professional, an individual, and a gentleman. These characteristics are what we admire, but in our culture that is run by Wall Street, these people do not fit in.

I wish LdM success in his future, and I thank him for his contributions to Ferrari.

 

Thinking more, maybe one word sums it up, at least for me; soul.

Porsches are a triumph of engineering. But no soul.
Mercs remain old man cars (I should probably buy one! ). Great cars, no doubt, but just don't have that appeal and even a rare Ford remains a Ford....

I started following motorsport, and particularly F1 more or less 50 years ago. Ferrari was the magic. That they pretty much sucked was irrelevant; I knew one day I wanted to own a Ferrari. Not a Mclaren, not a Porsche, the "dream" was always a Ferrari.

I don't know if it's true, but I remember the tale of a guy who got pulled over in the car pool lane for riding alone. "But I'm not alone officer, the spirit of Enzo rides with me". Apparently, the cop was a petrol head and let him off with a warning and a chuckle.

Name another marque that could do that?.....

Cheers,
Ian

 

Pagani one day... but, fortunately, Horacio is in good health.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Of course it is all about the future IPO as Marchionne wants to compete against Ferdinand Piech. He will fail, BIG time. Real horror.

Marcel Massini

 

This is the new building you are talking about. It will be the new HQ for the F1 Team Scuderia Ferrari. Behind Hotel Planet and Restaurant Cavallino in Maranello.

Marcel Massini
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Big news
He has big conections to Fiat and the Italian government

 

Beg to differ, not a chance! (IMO of course. )

Outside hard core petrol heads, who's even *heard* of Pagani?

What success have they ever had at the pinnacle of motorsport? Let alone since the dawn of the sport. That counts for something.

What history, what legends are there?

No doubt they're great cars, but it'll never happen.

Again, IMESHO.

Cheers,
Ian