Ferrari says: what crisis?
Industry winners and losers count costs, Ferrari on top thanks to 458s and ... hairdryers?
The UK is just one market that has seen growth for Maranello, which is reporting that sales here are up 37 per cent to 504 cars in the first nine months. Its biggest market, the US, is doing well with sales up 37 per cent, with Germany, China and Japan also thriving.
The more prosaic end of the luxury market is having a strong year too, with Mercedes predicting it's on course for record profits in 2012, while Audi sales are up a whopping 13 per cent to 1.1 million in the first nine months. Beating them both on sales is BMW, which reckons it can beat last year's pre-tax profit figures of $7.4 billion.
'Ferrari-engined' hairdryers the secret to profitability
Some luxury brands are taking a tumble across Europe too, including Aston Martin, which is down 25 per cent and Lotus, down 52 per cent. Even Rolls Royce is having trouble, with sales running 17 per cent below last year. Ferrari's overall sales in Europe are flat, but that is pretty good considering the whole market is down seven percent.
The firm's splits are interesting - top seller in Europe is the 458 with 1,200 sold, followed by the California at 467 and the FF at 383. That last figure is more than Lamborghini sold in total across the region over the same period.
Ferrari said its increased profits were in part due to brand activity, which means online sales and licencing (including Ferrari stores). One licencing partnership it said is doing particularly well is Puma, which sells a range of Ferrari branded footwear and clothing with names like Ferrari Drift Cat IV Carbon Shoes.
If you want to delve further into the murky world of Ferrari licencing then check out Babyliss hairdryers with their "Ferrari-designed engines" (we're not kidding).
They know they can't kill the golden goose I think and the addition of a 4th model range is likely the reason for the increase.
Remember they are selling 458s at 50-70% more than they sold 430s for, so bound to be profitable.
Slightly worrying for Aston those figures and Lamborghini but there's new product on the way for them soon.
ks but I guess it's all the pencil cases and hairdryers, board games etc. that fixes "Ferrari" in the minds of kids today, who may grow up to buy one of the cars tomorrow.I can see the Logic in what Lotus were trying to do, not that I was a massive fan of it.
I personally haven't bought anything that's been branded with a Ferrari logo, but that hasn't in any way cheapened the marque for me. When I saw my first 458 Spider last week, I didn't suddenly associate the car with headphones or a hair dryer. It's nonsense to think people do that and aren't able to distinguish between the cars and the branding.
I also think Aston Martin could do with associating itself with other like minded brands. They've got a ready made selection through the James Bond franchise, coupled with some very tasteful British clothing brands. Without some properly new metal, they're allowing themselves to turn a little stale at the moment.
I thought the shield was only on the racing pedigree models - whos done le mans wearing a pair then
I personally haven't bought anything that's been branded with a Ferrari logo, but that hasn't in any way cheapened the marque for me. When I saw my first 458 Spider last week, I didn't suddenly associate the car with headphones or a hair dryer. It's nonsense to think people do that and aren't able to distinguish between the cars and the branding.
I also think Aston Martin could do with associating itself with other like minded brands. They've got a ready made selection through the James Bond franchise, coupled with some very tasteful British clothing brands. Without some properly new metal, they're allowing themselves to turn a little stale at the moment.
I do believe the endless stream of downmarket tat carrying the Ferrari name, rather than the fact that they license merchandising activities in se, does tarnish the brand somewhat.
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