Ferrari hit by crisis? Interesting article by AUTOCAR

gee the 2 most unattractive cars 612/599 are not selling at all, wake up call for Ferrari to make works of art again instead of just cars for wealthy people to show they have money, 430 not selling? coincidence don't think so the Pokemon California is watering down the brand

 

There is even the possibility to get a spider 16m scud, but not immediatly of course.

 

Very interesting!!

 

Very Interesting.

 

Somehow this was needed for an attitude adjustement for some dealers.

I was looking at prices of recent Ferraris in Europe and they are still very strong. 430 Spiders have asking price around 180-200k Euros and 599 are around 250-290k. 355's around 65k..

 

Instant Karma

 

"Ferrari has denied that the company has been adversely affected by the credit crunch..."


Very interesting indeed despite every company on the planet paying more for funding, Ferrari hasnt been affected! WOW!

 

Oh and BTW, here's Fiat's stock since the beginning of the year. No Credit crunch here...
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No F problem here. We're giving our factory workers some much needed time off because they're great, we like to be able to tell our customers, "hey, what waiting list and yes you can have this recently flipped new car at sticker(maybe less )", and see that used 430 or 599 for sale in the showroom, yes it's now at a deep discount. We happen to have a whole bunch of them right now. Can I get you a cappuccino or shine your shoes sir?

 

Market crash.

 

Whatever happened to the situation with the dealer & Jati? The guy on here who got into an ugly situation? I wonder if the dealer regrets that...

Kevin

 

Well, there is a pretty big difference between "laying people off" and simple not renewing temporary workers.

Good job to Ferrari for not having those people on permanent contract - lets them be a lot more flexible at absorbing this downturn.

 

FNA has been trying for years to get rid of flippers. I guess they succeeded. Trouble is, the wait list and new car sales were pumped BECAUSE of flippers. Even those of us who bought new cars and kept them were motivated in part by the fact there would be little or no depreciation. Given the current economy, I think I would pass on a new car if it came up now, but I still have my '05 430 so life is good.

Dave

 

What's interesting to me is that my F430 now seems MORE valuable to me, NOT less. My car was developed, designed, produced, tested, sold during the peak of Ferrari's phenomenal climb to the top of it's reign as the worlds leading exotic marque. The demand for the 430 was insane. I was very lucky to find my exact,must have optioned car (Black/Black, yellow stitching and calipers, Daytona seats, badges, etc) on a showroom floor. I planned on buying the 430's replacement in it's second or 3rd year of production, but Im wondering what if any affect this economic disaster will have on the new cars development. Either way Im keeping my 430 forever.

 

There is substantial assumption in your statement that Ferrari's global production will do anything to adjust the attitudes of the dealerships. No, what will adjust the attitudes of the dealerships is how difficult it is to acquire financing that did not originate in their customer's real estate assets.

 

+1. It's funny that di Montezemolo criticizes financial speculators when a good chunk of his customers have been exactly that.

 

I was thinking EXACTLY the same thing reading the first post..."Do not bite the hand of the one feeding you"...or something like that.

 

Many of the German marks (Porsche BMW MBZ) have announced production cuts, and temporary factory closures...What if Ferrari was just to temporarily suspend production for a month to allow for a supply side contraction, and resume production at demand level #'s thereafter ?

 

Agreed. Now lets hope all this mess actually lets people who want to own and DRIVE the cars, purchase them easier, and at a lower cost.





Darrell.

 

I agree with your sentiment but I don't think it will work that way. The economy is in a free fall and we aren't even close to the bottom. The people that don't own Ferrari's, but would love to own one, are generally not in a cash position. Getting credit to buy one just ain't in the cards right now. Even those with cash have a LOT of other more pressing issues such as mortgages and college funds, etc....I just don't see people forking over a large chunk of money to buy non-essential, high priced toys at the moment. Even if someone truly in a good cash position who let's say wanted a 360 for years but has been waiting finds one in the his target range, why buy now?
If they have been waiting years and the car is in sight and they any brains whatsoever they would wait till next year. Maybe even get a 430?
When the 430 replacement comes out the 360's and 430's will be even cheaper. This scenario is going to STILL keep a lot of REAL car guys out of that
dream Ferrari for a long time coming. It sucks but it's true.

 

That's what is needed for the market to bottom. The late model cars have to get cheap enough for long term owners to buy them in sufficient quantity to stabilize the price. Right now there are hundreds and hundreds of 360's and 430's for sale. It reminds me of the early 90's when Hemmings had page after page of 308's, 328's and TRs. You won't see prices stabilize until this supply is pared way down. Interestingly, there are more F40's for sale in the latest FML than 328's. I think there is a message there.

Dave

 

There is a certain irony there.

Dave