Marchionne to sell more Ferraris

Fiat CEO and incoming Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne has flagged his intention to break the Prancing Horse brand's self-imposed production limit of about 7000 supercars per annum.

Speaking at an event in Balocco, Italy following the announcement that he will replace Luca di Montezemolo as Ferrari chief on October 13, Marchionne said he plans to gradually increase production of models like the $1.5 million LaFerrari limited-edition to meet growing demand from high net worth individuals.

“If that class increases, we should be able to follow them,” he was reported by Bloomberg as saying, adding that otherwise, “the waiting list will become too long, and people get tired.”

However, models like the LaFerrari special, all 499 examples of which were almost immediately sold, will remain exclusively left-hand drive, making them illegal to drive on Australian public roads.

But it's not only limited-editions like the LaFerrari that will become more common, with Marchionne indicating in May that Ferrari could sell up to 15,000 cars annually, given increasing demand from emerging markets like China.

At the same time, he said the Ferrari brand's value would be far higher if it hadn't limited its global sales to around 7000 cars a year, but reiterated the reasons behind the self-imposed production cap.

"The 7000 limitation is a wilful and intended limitation. We have capped the number of cars to ensure we would not be losing the uniqueness and exclusivity of the brand," he said.

In fact, Ferrari has twice sold more than 7000 vehicles in a year, in 2011 (7001) and 2012 (7318), before sales fell to 6922 last year.

And when he announced Ferrari's record half-yearly financial results today, Marchionne said the company would increase its 2014 sales by five per cent (which would mean 7268 cars), despite a 3.6 per cent decline in the number of homologated vehicles sold to June (3631).

Of that number, sales increased by 13 per cent to 1062 in North America – Ferrari's largest market – while sales in its largest European market, the UK, were down seven to 408

After years of declining sales in Italy, first-half deliveries lifted by 13 per cent to 131 there, while sales in Japan were up by 13 per cent to 195 and Australia chipped in 56 sales – up 7.7 per cent.

As we've reported, however, with local waiting lists of 12 months or more, Ferrari says its Australian sales figure is up to 50 per cent greater than official registration figures indicate.

"Greater China, however, is feeling the impact of the controlled reduction in deliveries to Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China to which a total of 285 cars went compared to 344 in H1 2013," said Ferrari.

Despite this, Ferrari posted a record net industrial financial position of 1,594 million euro, and a record trading profit of 185 million euro (up 5.2 per cent).

"It gives all of us here at Ferrari a sense of great satisfaction to continue to achieve record financial results, particularly given that production was limited," said di Montezemolo.

"I am sure that in a few months' time, we will be marking the end of a truly extraordinary and unprecedented year. Sales will also increase by several percentage points to avoid excessively long waiting lists."

Also today, Marchionne said Ferrari and Maserati were critical to the Fiat Chrysler Alliance, not just because of their profitability.

“People should not underestimate the importance of Ferrari for the group,” he said. “Structurally, in terms who we are as car-maker, they have and will continue to define us.

"Do I think they are essential to the configuration of FCA forever? The answer is no. But they represent the best of what a car-maker can be.”

In its recent five-year product plan Fiat confirmed Ferrari will continue to develop and renew its core four cars, with a major engineering upgrade for one of them each year, starting with this year's facelifted California T.

Its next big launch is likely to be the facelifted 458M at the Geneva motor show in two weeks, followed by a limited-edition model to celebrate Ferrari's 60th year in America in October, when it plans "both a special event and a special car".

"To celebrate Ferrari's 60th year in the USA, we have developed a special car of which just 10 examples will be built, in addition to planning a major event in Los Angeles to bring together all our American clients and collectors, and a charity initiative," said Montezemolo.