Montezemolo 20 years ahead of Ferrarri's destins

It's a summation of the Motor Trend blog post that I linked in another post.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=348462

One of these days, I would like to see a documentary of exactly what he did during his 20 years at Ferrari...

 

Built Ferrari's first station wagon, Yay

 

A) 355->360->430->458
B) put the V12s back in the front
C) won 6 WCC
D) put Ferrari solidly in the black
E) Enzo, GTO

 

In the process, he managed to dilute the brand and killed the three pedal manual transmission

IMHO


Joe

 

I would add:
A) Turned Ferrari into a global brand and monetised it
B) Return to 4 seaters 456->612->FF
C) Offering to new segment. California
D) Developed Maranello into a world class manufacturing/engineering facility
E) Clienti program for FXX, 599XX, customer F1, Challenge etc
F) Secured Ferrari's place at the top of the heap of a crowded segment
G) Developed strong management team
H) "in-housed" core competencies in design, process and engineering
I) Turned Ferrari into a global company

I have spent time with Montezemolo this year in both Hong Kong and Maranello and he is highly reflective about his 20 years. It is a long time and he has spent every second of those 20 years looking forward so it is nice to see him taking a brief pause to reflect on what he has done. Bravo Mr. Montezemolo

 

while it's true he doesn't have overly romantic notions of Ferrari, it's also true that Ferrari wouldn't be the company it is, and be able to support it's F1 activities, without the more modern business actions he's directed the company toward......in this case it's been "give a little, to get a lot" IMO

 

A tee shirt and coffee cup company?

 

in the most cynical sense.....but more obvious, a company with some not insignificant financial footing

 

I think he's done a damn fine job sure the marketing stuff is a bit out of hand but if it helps ferrari turn out the amazing cars and win races then I'm fine with it

 

Jury is still out, let's see what happens if Europe goes into a recession in 1H12.

 

Why does F need 4 seaters ? isnt that why they bought Maserati ? F should never have sold M.

California is a sell out, about as hardcore as a marshmellow

 

Dear Ferraristi,

Ferrari is going the way of Porsche....making cars more and more distant from their core enthusiast market.

Once P started making the SUV....I don't even look at them anymore.

I'm OK with a Ferrari mug....but Ferrari panties??



Shamile

Freeze....Miami Vice !

 

Um, no. He didn't kill the 3 pedal. Customers stopped ordering them. When roughly 95 out of 100 people order a car the same way, it doesn't make financial sense to keep producing something for the 5%. It was probably getting to a point where the 3 pedal would actually cost them money.

Killed the brand? Ferrari is regarded as great as it is today than ever. The current lineup of cars is breakthrough and shows the technological advancements they utilize. Right now, even Lamborghini isn't competition. They are by far on the top

 

If I was going to buy any modern sportscar it would be a Pagani which is what F was back in the 50s only w a lot better quality & attention to detail

The Aventador is way cool, maybe cooler than the 458 & light years cooler than a 599, FF, Commiefornia

The MB SLS is amazing both the Gullwing & roadster

 

This ^

 

The GT3RS & the upcoming 918 are sick cars

Cayenne Turbo isnt bad either

 

Irrespective of cost, 3 pedal cars should be an option.

Being 1.462830 seconds per lap faster at Thunder Hill Raceway isn't as important to me as being part of the driving experience and working for it. Stopping offering manual trans cars is like stopping selling red ones.

Further, having an 'auto-trans' is like having someone else service your girl friend.

Can't drive a Ferrari with a manual transmission well or quickly...then a Ferrari isn't your car.

IMHO.

 

Does Pagani build GT cars and has a top level racing program?

Nope?

Then Pagani is not what Ferrari was in the 50s.

Luca is getting a lot of flak lately. I don´t like everything he does. I don´t like the theme park and the 599 GTO. And he´s an attention whore. But I have to admit than he had far more ups than downs. And in the times of Enzo Ferrari, we already had fuel injection instead of carburettors, discs instead of drums, 250 GTs 2+2, automatic 400s and 308 GT4s.

 

Pagani has a different focus than F did back in the 50s he's not all about racing

Pagani is however about building the most awesome cars in the world w quality 2nd to none

So yeah he's not like F, more like Duesenburg I guess

 

What he said.

While you can't argue with Luca's results, not offering manuals anymore is a travesty and yes, the brand is more diluted than ever.

 

Gotta agree with Shamile on this one. I remember in the late 90s when porsche had only the 911 in various iterations. That was the peak for Porsche IMO.

I have to admit that panamera turbo is one heck of a car though.

 

auto-moto- und sport - Fastest car lately in their slalom was the GT3 RS 4.0 quicker than the 458. Manual is still there on Porsche. Lambo made an SUV. Its all good and its all just transportation. You drive what you like.

Ferrari are great but there are some seriously good options out there, mystique or not. LdM is ok. Just another guy with a dream, ego and the ability to make something happen. Its his version of Ferrari we live in. Who knows who will lead Ferrari next to sell us their version.

 

Agree 100%


Joe

 

I would definitely agree with you on the overall success of the brand.
The only grey area at the moment is the F1 IMO and I am not sure there is much that we can expect for 2012.

....anf I hope I am wrong ....