Montezemolo in Frankfurt: “Investments of two billion over next five years”

Frankfurt

The launch of a new Ferrari is always a special event and all the more so when the car is actually called...Speciale! Officially unveiled this afternoon by President Luca di Montezemolo and Managing Director Amedeo Felisa and the Vice President Piero Ferrari, the new special series model was immediately the centre of attention for the media at this the opening day of the International Motor Show.

President Montezemolo also took this opportunity to make an important announcement regarding the future of the company. “In the next five years, we will invest two billion Euros, all self-financed,” he said. “The figure does not include investment in Formula 1, the technology and know-how from which is however transferred to the road cars, as was very much the case with the 458 Speciale.”

This therefore represents an increase of 600 million Euros over the amount spent in the last five years, which has led to Ferrari’s stand at the IAA boasting the most complete range ever seen. “These cars are the actual result of constant investment on the product range,” added Montezemolo, who reiterated the decision announced back on 8th May in Maranello to restrict its production numbers. “This year and in 2014, we will produce no more than seven thousand cars, so as not to lose the brand’s exclusivity. This strategy has met with complete agreement from the major shareholder, FIAT and its Managing Director, Sergio Marchionne. Maintaining current production numbers will lead to a longer waiting list, which will in fact increase the brand’s value. We are enjoying spectacular success in the USA, where we would need much more than two thousand cars to meet demand and things are also going well in Japan, Hong Kong, where we will soon celebrate thirty years in that market, the Emirates and, as for Europe, in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Finland. Come the end of the year, we will open showrooms in Casablanca in Morocco and then in Baku, Azerbaijan. There are many requests, but we need to apply the brakes because otherwise we run the risk of flooding the market with cars which would undermine their exclusivity. What is dear to my heart is the strength of the brand: Ferrari’s value must remain very high.”

Nevertheless, there is another challenge to conquer. “However, at the same time we want to increase profits,” continued the President. “We will focus a lot on the brand to achieve this, and we expect it to yield an end of year profit of 50 million Euros: today, globally, 95 Ferrari-branded products are sold every minute, thanks to our 60 stores around the world and to e-commerce, which thus puts us close to the big fashion brands.”

“Finally and inevitably, it was time to turn to the topic of Formula 1. “There are still a lot of races to go and we must never give up, right to the final kilometre,” said Montezemolo. “I think that it will take an enormous effort from everyone, but we must have a competitive car. I have said it before and I say it again: I want to thank the fans, who have shown so much affection and understanding and this must push us to do even more. Maybe it would have been better, if there had been fewer boos for Vettel: congratulations to him and to Red Bull, but to our critics and those with short memories, I would like to remind them that in the past few years, Ferrari has always been at the top.”