In these troubled times you would expect sales of an expensive, non-essential item, like say a Ferrari, to be the first thing to suffer. In fact 2008 was a record year for the Italian firm with increased sales and profits.
Ferrari's sales increased from 6,465 cars in 2007 to 6,587 in 2008. There was growth in sales to Eastern Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and South Africa but the largest market remained North America, which took 26% of all cars sold.
Overall the firm made a profit of 339 million Euros. This was achieved through increased sales, reduced manufacturing costs and other activities such as licenses for Ferrari merchandise and e-commerce. Maranello was keen to stress that research and development is one area that has not been affected by cost-cutting.
No single product line was identified as the greatest earner with sales of both eight- and twelve-cylinder models remaining strong. The appeal of the
599 and
612 ranges was helped by the One to One Personalisation Programme. One model that could not contribute to the 2008 figures is the
new California, as the first customer cars will be delivered in the next few days.
It is too early to predict how things will go this year. Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo said, "The economic climate in 2009 still remains very uncertain as the crisis takes its toll across the globe and it is hard to say how the situation will develop from here. That means, of course, that Ferrari will have to lavish even more attention on every single detail and continue to innovate whilst preserving the exclusivity of our products with respect to market demands."
That suggests the Italians will not be encouraging heavy discounting to boost sales. Bad news for anyone hoping to pick up a cheap F430, but good news for the long-term future of the company.
John Lambert - 12 Feb 2009