Ferrari to sell fewer cars
All carmakers are looking into making some profits during these still-tough economic times. Soma companies are allying themselves with others in order to share research and development costs for various tech, some are expanding into different markets while shrinking in others. Ferrari on the other hand, apparently is planning to do this by making fewer cars.
The Ferrari chairman’s idea is to sell fewer cars this year in order to protect the brand’s exclusivity. Luca di Montezemolo told industry journalists that his plan of increasing the car manufacturer’s profitability is to sell more high-end, customized vehicles but also making fewer of them. The idea is to limit availability while increasing the overall quality even more, thus protecting the company’s margins as well as residual value for their customers.
They will encourage personalization through an expanded list of options and an increased emphasis on Ferrari’s Tailor Made program in order to boost those profits and the exclusivity.
The chairman continued to say that the revenue per unit is growing thanks to the higher grade of options brought in by the expansion of their customization program, further mentioning that the average customer will add option worth 25,000 euros to the final cost.
This revolves somewhere around the ten percent mark of the initial retail price. The other personalization offer from Ferrari, the Tailor Made program, adds an extra 50,000 euros on average. The final results being more personalized and more unique cars, this will maintain a higher residual value over time.
This is rather strange news when one considers that Ferrari sold a record 7318 vehicles in 2012 and started 2013 on a high note, reporting a first-quarter trading profit up 43 percent. But if other reports are to be believed, as well as what Montezemolo says, the Italian car-maker plans to sell fewer than 7000 vehicles this year.
