Marchionne Comments - Production Numbers and "SUV"

SUV! pah! I hate frickin SUV's as it is. Pointless monstrosities. I feel like I did when I opened Ferrari Chat and found it had all changed.

IMO Ferrari should go the other direction;
A new Dino; curvy, tight, maximum a ton all up, n/a 3 litre V12 giving say 400hp, ticket of £150,000 = hot cakes without diluting Ferrari and many smiles all round.

 

= make it for China only; in fact make it in China, for China only. Sorted.

 

No, that's what Alfa is for. Ferrari should not bring back the Dino. If you want to delude the brand make 10,000 2 seat "Ferrari" sports cars a year.

Have Maserati or Alfa do that. Do you care about the car or the badge on the side????

 

Totally agree.

And, maybe the new Mid engine Corvette will show the Italians they blew their chance.

 

We get it, we just dont care that they will lose the status of "exclusively a performance sportscar builder" do you think the people buying Porsche GT3 RS care about the existence of the Macan or Cayenne ? No. They are buying a car, not a brand.

It may be that you dont get that not everyone cares about the brand.

 

Nope prefer if its called an Alfarati, that way we get a great car without the dealer games and all the BS that comes with the ferrari badge. Problem is Alfas are and remain half baked because they are built to a price not a standard. So yeah if ferrari enginered the car as they would and put an alfa badge on it win win. Or just resurect Dino as a sub brand.

 

Very well said.

 

The brand value impacts the price though, a Porsche is pricier than a BMW and a Ferrari is pricier than a Porsche when comparing models offering similar performance (performance including, but not limited to speed and times).

 

My buddy (66 going on 67) knows zero about Ferrari. I found and brokered a 458 for him (when I say "brokered" I mean I found it, negotiated the deal and said to my friend - hand them the check). He wants to order an 812. We are working on that now. He does not fit an "enthusiast" characterization. He couldn't care less about the history - it's just not how he is wired. And, he will never be on any forum. So, Rob is correct on this in my opinion.

 

When i was a kid my favorite director was John Carpenter. Guy had made Halloween, The Thing , The Fog and Escape From NY. The guy was a God to me. Then he started making ****ty movies like Starman and They Live and I realized i should never put anyone on a pedestal. If Im going to love something, its the product not the manufacturer.

Thats how i feel about Ferrari and every other 'brand' in existence be it a company or a individual. Its all about the individual product they create. Couldnt give two ****s about the brand.

 

I don't want to hijack this thread however I feel your not liking They Live deserves possibly it's own thread. I love that film.

Isn't the thing your referring to what made Ferrari special in the first place. They made only sports cars and even if you didn't really like one you still liked it better than any other car on the road.

 

And I absolutely respect that differing position. I just feel many (not you) dont respect the opposite position that I have.

 

Sums up my opinion perfectly.

And when it comes to porduct Ferrari is very much these days relying on "brand" image and paper numbers, over greatness of execution

 

To some, Ferraris single minded dedication to sports car will definitely be part of the allure. I totally get it. Im not trying to tell people their perspective is wrong. Im just saying its not the only perspective.

I think what made Ferrari special back in the day was that it was intimately run by the founder and was his personal vision. Once the founder dies or loses interest the companies generally lose that personal connection with their customers and become something different. Often times that leads to even more growth as the new leaders arent concerned with the tiny pool of original dedicated fans/customers.

I know because Ive created and sold two companies very similar to Ferrari in concept. Both companies were my personal vision and we had a dedicated fanbase. Each time i sold one the whole thing changed dramatically as there was no single 'vision' any more.

That doesnt mean it got worse. Just became different. This last one will probably grow to ten times the size it was when i sold it but its already lost the personal touch that I focused on.

 

Ferrari has always been something people might dream of owning. Regardless to whether you are a petrolhead (gearhead) or not, Ferrari (the brand) stands out as do their cars. Lamborghini I think is similar. Perhaps McLaren is going that way but I don't think it quite applies to Aston and Porsche. Then there are the lesser known like Pagani. All exotic but Ferrari are synonymous with expensive/exotic whereas (excluding Lambo) the others (maybe including McLaren) aren't well known enough yet.

I'm currently using my mum's Fiat 500 as she has decided to give up driving so I am selling it for her. A gent turned up last night with his wife in her New Audi Q3 to look at it for a friend. I don't think he really wanted my mum's car but I opened my garage and the talk went off in a completely different Italian direction.
This chap could easily afford a 360 I'm sure but he knew little about the model range but knew THE brand. Ferrari is like that and whatever they do be it an SUV or a Dino I just hope they keep the numbers low enough for it to be profitable (shareholders) but still exclusive.
The Maserati Levante and Alfa Stelvio do absolutely zero for me. They're generic looking Euro SUV's, like Audi, BMW and Jaguar.
Hopefully the Ferrari SUV will look unique like Range Rover/Land Rover. The only SUV I'd even consider today.

 

Evolution is not always easy as is 'change;. This is not to say that I love a Ferrari SUV though am curious as to what their view of the future is. Reading in between the lines I got the impression that their 'SUV' will not be like the one of their competition. This kept me wondering whether there is a niche in between a real SUV-type of car and the GTC4, something it sets them apart from others?

 

Dieter Knechtel, chief executive of Ferrari Far East and Middle East, stated in Dubai this week, "Every year we promise to have a new model, so next year let’s see, hopefully there’s going to be a few good surprises." And then, about the SUV, he stated, "We shouldn’t expect an SUV from Ferrari as you have seen it from other brands before...It’s more about how can we further develop a concept based on the idea of the GTC4Lusso. Something very Ferrari, something very different, something that you haven’t seen before. It’s not going to be a classic SUV as you know it.”

 

That sounds pretty good.

 

Very interesting!
Even though I dread the idea of a Ferrari SUV, Im somewhat intrigued in what they come up with.

 

What is he teasing for next year, just the 488 VS or is there more to expect? What could be planned for Paris Motor Show in September?