RE: Ferrari: turbos, more cars and new 'specials'

RE: Ferrari: turbos, more cars and new 'specials'

Wednesday 17th September 2014

Ferrari: turbos, more cars and new 'specials'

LdM hasn't even emptied his desk and rumours are already swirling about Maranello's new direction



Most interesting is confirmation that - as the California T suggested - all of Maranello's future V8 road cars will be turbocharged. Obviously this is a decision that was made under di Montezemelo's watch, and one that makes sense considering the increasing pressure that even the most exotic carmakers are under to reduce emissions. Ferrari's powertrain boss Vittorio Dino has told Automotive News that Ferrari plans to cut its 'fleet' carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2021 with the combination of turbocharged V8s and hybridized V12s. Meaning that some of the LaFerrari's electric tech will indeed be making it into lesser models. In the same interview Dini said that Ferrari didn't regard turbocharging as a good solution for V12s, as he reckons a 12-cylinder engine would need four turbos...

LdM said 7,000 cars yearly; Marchionne disagrees
LdM said 7,000 cars yearly; Marchionne disagrees
But the arrival of new boss Sergio Marchionne, currently Fiat's CEO, is also likely to mean a radical departure from the company's current policy of limiting Ferrari production to maintain demand and exclusivity. While Montezemelo restricted production to 7,000 cars a year, Marchionne has previously indicated that he thinks Ferrari could probably build as many as 10,000 cars annually if demand is there. Which it almost certainly would be given the current waiting lists for Ferrari products in most parts of the world. Let's just hope the customer-pleasing approach doesn't lead to Maranello listening to demands for a Ferrari SUV.

And finally, Ferrari has also confirmed it will be building another of its coachbuilt 'special cars', this time a limited edition of 10 to be sold in America to celebrate the company's 60th anniversary there, and probably based on the F12 Berlinetta. Despite a $3.2m price tag, these have reportedly already sold out.

Author
Discussion

f1ten

Original Poster:

2,161 posts

152 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
10,000 cars a year... its a mistake run by the accountants... exclusivity is everything...
lets see what happens to the maserati brand if they ever achieve 75000 a year target.

skinny

5,269 posts

234 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
that's the point tho, it's not the accountants, it's Marchionne

j90gta

563 posts

133 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
Whatever some people might think of LdM he did at least care about the core products. He gave in to the accountants re the merchandising but he would not give in on the engineering. Increasing vehicle production by almost 30% will devalue the brand. It will lose much of its exclusivity. It will get to the stage where 10,000 vehicles will not be enough and production will be further increased with new model ranges. The market will become saturated and people will move on to the next must-have toy. Seeing a Ferrari on the road is still quite an event and should remain so. Audi have so far nurtured Lamborghini and I think have surprised many people by not increasing production levels. Marchionne seems to be the new Danny Bahar!

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
Plenty of other car companies have made the same error in thinkning that having a "waiting list" could mean "higher sales". For consumer goods, yes, it probably does, when you can buy something else that does the same thing, but i'd still wager, that a good proportion of people buy a Ferrari BECAUSE it's a Ferrari. So, if they have to wait for it, no problem, but being able to pick it up tomorrow doesn't magically produce a higher demand.......

Behemoth

2,105 posts

130 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
7,000 to 10,000 seems a big increase but it's from a very low base. To put it into perspective, Porsche made 165,000 cars in 2013 and over 10,000 of them were 911s.

aarondbs

843 posts

145 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
Increasing production by 43% is not necessarily a bad thing. From a pure supply and demand point of view surely this could mean lower prices? Less excelusivity means more affordability a few years down the line when buying used. So long as the tech isnt compromised then that's good news for the rest of us.

Some Gump

12,671 posts

185 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
Behemoth said:
7,000 to 10,000 seems a big increase but it's from a very low base. To put it into perspective, Porsche made 165,000 cars in 2013 and over 10,000 of them were 911s.
... and how common are 911's?

I went to the Ferrari Racing Days shindig. Soooo much of the brand is that specialness, the fact you rarely see one, that they're exclusive etc etc. Obviously, you can't judge people solely on appearance, but within that paddock was an eclectic mix of owners, but an awful, awful lot of "image" was on show. Lose that exclusivity and you'll lose that core demographic - are petrolheads really going to spend more than the "I like it because none of you can afford it" crowd?

Re. the specials, I've no opinion on it TBH. Is there really any difference between a Premiership special coming from Marenello or Bradford? They'll both be god awful, but at least some of the proceeds of a Maranello "oil special" might conceivably be reinvested in developing things the rest of us like =)

adamk550

7 posts

194 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
7000 to 10000 is a bit of jump but I suspect its down to demand in new markets (China, for example). If they produce more cars for those markets, it shouldn't affect the exclusivity in the existing markets like Europe and US. From that point of view it makes sense to me but I think there are limits to the production numbers before the "specialness" will be lost.

I also wouldn't expect more cars fed by higher demand to equate to lower prices, either. This is Ferrari we are talking about. If anything, I can see them putting the prices up still further.

ralphrj

3,508 posts

190 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
adamk550 said:
7000 to 10000 is a bit of jump but I suspect its down to demand in new markets (China, for example).
Possibly. Annual production of 7,000 is already a big jump from roughly 10 years ago when they only made 4,000 cars a year. I think the additional 3,000 cars are largely going to China but perhaps this does not meet the demand.

XJ Flyer

5,526 posts

129 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
Why would low volume manufacturers like Ferrari need to worry about 'fleet' fuel consumption targets.It would also be interesting to find out how lumbering a decent V12 with what is effectively electric transmission would make it any more economical on fuel and that's assuming that the average V12 customer is even looking for fuel economy.

The only thing that all that type of tech hype would do is probably increase the values of 'classic' Ferraris.While at the same time wiping away a lot of interest which such buyers might have otherwise had in buying new.

As for forced induction to make an engine more efficient that arguably might be more understandable in which case what's wrong with using the Jaguar idea of supercharging on the Ferrari V12 range.

DB9VolanteDriver

2,612 posts

175 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
Keep in mind that the 'waiting list' in itself is part of the attraction. Many want a Ferrari because there is a waiting list for a Ferrari. If 10k cars would completely eliminate the list, then because there is no list, demand would fall. It might be something like for every additional car that is manufactured, the list goes down by 2, so maybe an additional 1K cars would be enough to keep a small list going, but eliminating the list would be counter productive.

Obiwonkeyblokey

5,399 posts

239 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
I think they're smart enough tot keep demand there and production increasing is likely to be for the emerging markets as mentioned earlier and the fact that we are coming out of recession in most places. As long as they build one less car than what is being ordered there is a waiting list and they are entering some pretty big markets.

You can keep individual countries allocations the same whilst increasing worldwide output therefore protecting local markets.

iloveboost

1,531 posts

161 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
Behemoth said:
7,000 to 10,000 seems a big increase but it's from a very low base. To put it into perspective, Porsche made 165,000 cars in 2013 and over 10,000 of them were 911s.
Yes the Ferrari figures sound like much more as a percentage than they are in reality and the population of the developed world increases every year so they have to keep up. I think Porsche sell more than 10K 911s in the US but I could be wrong.
I think Ferrari and Lamborghini want a slice of Porsche pie. If they don't do either an SUV, four door supercar or cheaper supercar in the next few years I'll be surprised.
Bugatti were meant to be bringing out a 'Veyron saloon' as well I don't know what happened to that.

toppstuff

13,698 posts

246 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
iloveboost said:
I think Ferrari and Lamborghini want a slice of Porsche pie. If they don't do either an SUV, four door supercar or cheaper supercar in the next few years I'll be surprised.
.
Isn't that what Maserati is for?

There is no reason to move the Ferrari brand into SUV and saloon space if Maserati can do it for them well enough. There is a Maserati SUV on the way already.

Malachimon

477 posts

124 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
The last California wasn't the best looking ferrari from the front but now it just looks like it's had serious plastic surgery, so much so it can't stop smiling.

Clivey

5,108 posts

203 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
It doesn't look good...too many manufacturers are already making withdrawals from "The Bank of Substance" without making much in the way of deposits. frown

Edited by Clivey on Wednesday 17th September 23:05

lamboman100

1,445 posts

120 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
As long as Ferrari keep doing well (long-term) in F1 racing, they can prolly make 20k cars a year without harming their worldwide car brand. Most of their new sales are going to China, India, Brazil, etc., where penetration is much lower (rarer).

Would be good to see Ferrari make a pretty car again, though. Have not made anything really good-looking for several years. Their design has waned, while their volumes have gone up. Presumably, they are struggling to grow scale and maintain design purity at the same time.

underphil

1,245 posts

209 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
quotequote all
adamk550 said:
7000 to 10000 is a bit of jump but I suspect its down to demand in new markets (China, for example). If they produce more cars for those markets, it shouldn't affect the exclusivity in the existing markets like Europe and US. From that point of view it makes sense to me but I think there are limits to the production numbers before the "specialness" will be lost.

I also wouldn't expect more cars fed by higher demand to equate to lower prices, either. This is Ferrari we are talking about. If anything, I can see them putting the prices up still further.
At least someone here is talking sense

Hitch78

6,100 posts

193 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
quotequote all
I love these threads where people talk about car companies "devaluing the brand" by selling more units. Absolute fking cobblers. 10,000 units is nothing in an increasingly geographically spread market for supercars.

Jawaman

271 posts

132 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
quotequote all
Hitch78 said:
I love these threads where people talk about car companies "devaluing the brand" by selling more units. Absolute fking cobblers. 10,000 units is nothing in an increasingly geographically spread market for supercars.
+1

Besides they will still maintain limited numbers for the halo models (la Ferrari etc) - Halo models + classics are what keep the magic.

Look at Ferrari in F1 - they haven't been particularly great in recent years yet for most people Ferrari ARE F1 - their lack of performance has done little to damage their image which proves how strong the brand is.

I would argue more damage to the brand would occur if they don't ramp up production to ensure they have new markets covered - they need a presence in new markets to reinforce their position as 'the daddy' (Or Godfather??) of sports cars