Women drive Ferrari sales in China

It appears the need for speed is not exclusive to men. Fast women are helping drive a sales surge of Ferraris in the Far East.

China is poised to become the biggest market in the world for the Italian sportscar maker, largely thanks to its popularity among women.

More than 95 per cent of all Ferraris sold worldwide are bought by men -- but China has bucked the trend, with women accounting for 20 per cent of all new Ferraris sold there over the past half a decade.

Speaking at the Beijing motor show, the boss of Ferrari Amedeo Felisa (pictured alongside the 599 GTO in Beijing) said: "The average of age of Ferrari buyers in China is 10 years younger than the rest of Europe. And in China you have a lot of women who are running a business in a tough way. They have the money and they can afford to buy a Ferrari.”

He said women were no more or less demanding than men when negotiating to buy a car.

"It was a welcome surprise for us, we weren't expecting such a big success, but China is a new and growing market. When people do well, they want some reward. Clearly a lot of women want a Ferrari."

But there is a catch: the Chinese might be buying a lot of Ferraris, but they don't seem to drive them very far.

According to Ferrari, customers in China and Japan (currently the world's biggest Ferrari market) only drive their cars, on average, 3500km each year. The average annual distance travelled in a Ferrari in North America is 5000km, in Europe it varies from 7000km to 10,000km.

Much of the sales boost has come from the California convertible, which has a folding metal roof and is the first Ferrari with an automatic transmission.

"What is happening, normally the wife doesn't like to go with the husband in the [hard-edged sportscar models such as the F430 or the 599], but they enjoy the California."

Ferrari sales in China have more than tripled over the past six years (from 65 sales in 2004 to 212 last year) and the car maker expects to double its current selling rate over the next five years.

"If we include the greater China, that is mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Ferrari sold almost 500 cars in those countries, just behind Japan which sold 520 cars last year," said Felisa. "We don't think it will be long before China overtakes Japan as our biggest customer base.

"We imagine the future of Ferrari is in China. We don't see big possibilities for growth in Europe or the US, but we have a big opportunity for growth in China. Despite the economic situation last year, we were still able to grow sales."

Ferrari sold 6200 cars globally last year, down slightly on the previous year's sales of 6400 -- an all-time record. The company says it is on track to sell another 6200 cars this year, buoyed by a couple of sell-out models, the 458 Italia and GTO limited edition.

The Ferrari boss also revealed that global sales of merchandise such as caps, jackets, flags and T-shirts accounted for 20 per cent of Ferrari's operating profit, about 50 million Euros annually.

The car maker's bottom line was also boosted by two sales to a certain high-profile employee, Ferrari F1 driver Fernando Alonso.

Apparently Alonso was so excited about winning the first F1 race of the 2010 season in Bahrain -- and his first race for Ferrari -- that he bought a California convertible and a 458 Italia shortly after his win.

"There is not an employee discount but there is a different treatment for racing drivers, but it's not so big," said Felisa.

 "When he wins one or two championships with Ferrari, maybe he can get a free car."

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