German Car Forum

Had a chat w/ a rather blunt but at the same time very cutreous salesman. I just wanted to get a little insight into the process of becoming a Ferrari owner. So I asked him what the order books were looking like for the 599 GTB, and he said he has 150 deposits on the car, essentially the car is sold out for it's whole life of production. He started to tell me about Ferrari dealers system of patronage, which from a money making stand point makes sense, but it kinda sucks for everyone else who wants a new Ferrari and can't get one. Otherwise you'd need to have a pretty good network to even get your foot in the door. In hindsight and without delving into further detail, to me, you really have to want the badge. There are other cars out there for less money that can perform just as well or better and handle in the same manner, though you won't be able to say, "Hey, I'm in a Ferrari". A small price to pay.

It's even nicer to be able to say "Hey, I'm in a Lamborghini!" imo.

That the 599 is sold out for its entire life of production is another proof that anything with a Ferrari badge sells.

hype and sex sells. Unfortunately.

does the same "qualifications" system that ferrari uses, exist in any other car brand. Anyone knows?

I didn't know this was the case for all Ferraris, although I remember when the Enzo went on sale, current Ferrari owners were invited to buy the car, you couldn't just go to the dealership and buy the car!

I would love to own one and not because of the badge, its fast and good looking car

Ferrari is one of the most prestigeous car makers in the world. No doubt why their cars are such big hits. On the other hand since existing Ferrari owners are favored when ordering a new model over new buyers it's also like some kind of a prive club.

Being one of the hottest and most wanted Auto maker helps too. Thier cars imo are hotter than anything else for the streets. I preffer them over a Lambo. personally.

Yea, when you ask a 5 year old kid what car they want, they will always say they want a Ferrari, it's the car company that impresses everyone, even people who know nothing about cars!

the 599 is so ugly. The badge is beautiful though. Best badge in the world the prancing horse.

Have you seen the car in real-life? I said the same as you when I first saw the car on photos. Then I saw the car in Geneva and I totally changed my mind. I trully love the look

Well, when I got a brochure for the Gallardo at the L.A. show this year, the salesman let me in the stand, gave me his card, told me to call him to schedule a testdrive. That's quite simple if you ask me, didn't take much on my part other than express very keen interest in the car. I have also driven a 996TT cab, and didn't have to say a word to make it happen.

As long as Ferrari does not slacken off in what they do - because demand for their cars are always high - then it's definitely worth the money.

Hype is all about keeping the supply lower than the demand. Just look at the Enzo the hype around the car is enormous and not becasue it's better than the CGT or Zonda but just becasue the supply is extremly low. Thorught out the years and even today Fiat has keep and make sured that Ferrari is the most exclusive brand in the world.
Any new millionaire can in less than 5 minutes makes a phone call and get themselves a Bently GT, 911 Turbo or a Gallardo but not a F430. Getting hold of a brand new Ferrari is probably the hardest thing one can try to get hold of. Either you have to have good contacts in terms of dealers and people working for Ferrari, or allready own a Ferrari or place a deposit on the car before you even know its name and what it is going to look like.

Bingo! This is a large part of what keeps them selling. The newly rich or new to the brand want in on this so bad it hurts! Even when the cars weren't as awesome as they are today they still sold because of this. When buying a Ferrari you aren't merely buying a car you're buying into a club or better yet a "lifestyle". This is marketing 101 and ever other brand on earth wish their cars had this type of following. That said even Ferrari has limits, but they're so careful not to overbuild/produce to ensure that legendary waiting list. When you only build 4-5K cars a year between the F430, F430 Spider, 612S and now 599 GTB of course you'll have a waiting lists. All of those are white-hot and the only one that isn't (the 612S) isn't missed because production of the others make up for it being merely "warm" compared to the others...that way they can can still make it seem like even the 612S has a "waiting list". Its a really unique situation and position Ferrari has. Look at how they sold/marketed the FXX. Ferrari appears or at least creates the illusion that they are actually doing you a favor by selling you one of their cars - to be able to pull that off is priceless!!!! Then you combine all of this with their recent run in F1 and you have the perfect street-car selling, marketing machine. No other company has this position, not Mercedes, Rolls, Bugatti, BMW, Maybach, not even Porsche or the recently revitalized Aston-Martin. Porsche would be like Ferrari if they weren't such a volume producer relative to Ferrari and Aston-Martin is some years off from retaining their former glory to stand toe to toe with Ferrari. Lamborghini is trying, but they don't have the same draw either. No racing heritage and an even more spotty existense over the years compared to Ferrari.

Bentley had better be careful not to get too carried away with their newfound success you don't want to have start discounting them to move them because of excess production.

M

Couldn't agree more!