488 Pista - qualifying demands

Everyone I know wouldn't mind it, and many have already done so several times before with the 612, FF, Cali/T, Portofino and now Lusso. You'd be surprised, but yes there are people with pockets deep enough that they wouldn't care spending all kinds of money to get the latest and greatest, even knowing Ferrari will likely release something better not too far in the future. It's these clients that Ferrari are after, and sadly why they don't seem to care about alienating many 458/488 owners like the ones complaining on this thread.

There was a gentleman in Singapore I believe who had to buy 5 cars to get an allocation for LaFerrari!!

 

Slightly off topic but is it correct that in US you have to buy a used Ferrari before you can buy a new one ?
I'm sure there are lots of exceptions but any basis of truth in that story ?

 

Use to be true, I don't think so anymore. I think if a dealer has a new portofino, 488, or lusso in stock, they'll sell it to anyone that's willing to pay msrp...

 

The two dealers I talked to, they basically said you buy a lusso, you'll get a pista...

 

Good for Ferrari.

I hope this strategy works form them trying to increase production to 10,000 cars a year to under 7,000.

And let’s see how many Lussos sell when the economy corrects itself.

 

And of course all brands want the whales, but there are only so many of them. The rest of the ocean is filled with minnows (like me) and there will be plenty of 488 orders to fill once the whales are done buying Lusso's.

Like many here I just went to another brand as it worked for me. I only buy 1-2 cars a year, so I can't/won't buy a Lusso to buy a Pista. But the Performante will happily fill that void and McLaren could have just as easily.

Wonder what you will have to buy to get a Ferrari SUV

 

I don't know about Japan, but there are no Lamborghini dealers in North America who will not sell a car to someone who can pay for it.No BS, no games.Same goes for McLaren.

 

I would want an 812 badly, even if it were sitting in my drive way. Thats not the only reason. But they are smart with how they manage their demand.

By the way, they can keep the 5711, I always liked the 5710 much better!

 

I am stunned that someone who purchased 4 new Ferraris will not be offered a Pista, which is not a limited production vehicle.

 

Exactly.

 

it is a limited production vehicle. They will make Pista/ Spiders for a limited period of time. Ferrari has made this clear in all the public filings. Perhaps this is the new way they are doing LEs? The Pista Spider is not 'numbered' and yet you still have to get a special nod from your dealer (and Ferrari) to get one. The Pista coupe production will be throttled as they make Spiders. It is entirely possible that both versions will be made for one more model year. It is also entirely possible that the total number of Pista/ Spiders will be lower vs the Speciale and the SA.

 

Worth mentioning...
I have personally spoken with at least 25 future Pista owners. ALL but one future Pista owner owned at least 1 GT car. Several of the gents told me that they own LaFerrari Apertas and even at their level they still must have a current V12GT car in their fleet to be offered Pista/ Spiders. These Status 2 owners all told me that they balance out the gains and losses on their Ferraris and are happy with the results. Added color to this, it appears that to stay on the list to be offered the more exclusive (and very exclusive cars) owners should do tailormade on a v12 car.

 

By the same token the 488 is a limited production vehicle. The key is that the Pista isn't a fixed number production vehicle with a production number on the car.

 

I never heard of any Ferrari produced for an unlimited period of time
So any Ferrari is a limited production vehicle...

 

My point exactly. I can afford to wait and see how things play out. I don't have the urge to have the latest and greatest of anything just to have it. I think that with these new models coming, the demand for the Pista and Pista Spider might be softer than otherwise.

Buyers that take delivery of a Pista at $450k will then be faced with the question of buying the latest top of the line 488 that exceeds the capability of the Pista only a year into their ownership or possibly less. The Pista and Pista Spider are an end of model production run.

 

WRS, that is the same question everyone has asked themselves since the dawn of Ferrari, no? I hope the replacement mid-engined v8 IS as... if not more compelling vs the Pista. If it weren't that would be the first time in Ferrari history that their next car wasn't better vs the previous. (one could argue the 348 was a side step..we had one so we speak from experience)

Fact: Rules have changed.

I struggled (like many of you) to accept the new reality of what it takes to buy a new Ferrari. It occurred to me after reading Ferrari's filings that I was thinking too small. I didnt see the whole global picture.

Interesting info to consider as to why Ferrari's are becoming MORE exclusive and they can (easily) control their market:

- Nearly 8 billion. That is the number of people on the planet now. It took 50 years to go from 4 billion people to 8 billion. I read that it will take 30 years to double again.
- There are 36 million millionaires on the planet. in the US alone there are 1700 new millionaires every day.
- Globally there are 15,000,000 millionaires.
http://www.visualcapitalist.com/global-millionaire-population/

Ferrari has goals of increasing production to 10,000 cars per year. Currently 8-9000 cars per year.

Ferrari has said they plan on taking existing production AWAY from the US and into China etc What does fewer cars = increasing prices.

Ferrari (and the dealers) CAN control their market because they sell one of the most exclusive, desirable products on earth. They never (ever) have to lower prices.

The reason you can walk into any other high-end brand and get what you want fast is that there is less global demand for their product and/ or they are willing to/ able to over saturate the market with their product. Do you really think Mac, Lambo, Bentley, RR have meetings where they discuss not over saturating the market with their cars? Nope.

 

Why would they need to do that? The China market is going no-where, and, in next few years China will likely block all new cars that are not NEV (aka full electric) (NEV=New Energy Vehicles)

China/HongKong/Tawain combined:

2013=572
2014=675
2015=610
2016=619
2017=617

no need to defer production to China, their market is pretty light (Germany alone exceeds it with a lot smaller population)

 

ask them. Read their public filings. I am sure they know their business better vs me.

 

Spare me the 'global view'.

And I hate to burst your bubble, BUT there are way more 'new' 488's sitting at Ferrari dealers for sale then there are new Performantes (there are a handful only). Ask me how I know...

 

I’ll stick with buying on the secondary market and Mclarens and lambos. Some people use dollar bills to wipe their butt. I have no interest in playing that game. More power to those that do.

Good analysis but in 2018 Ferrari has some real competition. Performante, 720, Porsche GT cars. The game has changed.

 

forever I bought on the used market. I get the appeal. 2016 Cali, used. Our Aventador, Spider used. 458 Spider, used. LP570-4 New (sold to us at MSRP - $40k. 18 months later sold for $30k less vs what we paid), 2010 Californa, used. 09 Scuderia, used. 07 Gallardo Spider, used....all 6 of our GT Porsches, used. We have owned over 100 cars..probably close to 150.

I get the appeal of buying pre-owned for less than MSRP. My ego wanted me to feel like I was getting ' a deal'. My cheap Irish/ Scottish heart cringes when i am not being 'cheap'.

Now, I realize that the rules have changed. My previous OS regarding Ferraris at this level no longer applies.

I learned from guys who are MUCH higher on the food chain that if you want to win with Ferrari you have to play the long game. Being offended because the dealer wanted you to buy a Portofino (amazing car) to get a Pista is not thinking long term. For example, order a low option port. If the dealer (and Ferrari) LETS YOU order a Pista, order it when you order the Port. Keep it for 6 months. Pre-trade back to your dealer. If you lose anything on the Port, worry not. You owned a BRILLIANT car. (We LOVE the Portofino and have one on order). Your Pista arrives and chances of losing anything on that are low. (look at Speciale prices. Still selling for over MSRP)

Show loyalty to Ferrari and your dealer and of course, they will return the respect. Be clear with your dealer what your 3-5 year plan is. Ask them if they have the available allocations to meet your plan. YOUR DEALER may not. I had a dealer that we did multiple deals with TELL ME that they could not promise anything because "for us to sell you a Pista 20 other long-term clients would have to decline...or die". It was a partial joke but DANG how cool is it that they told me the truth.

Not thinking in terms of ONE sale/ one deal. Think about your plan for the next 3-5 years. Like I said before, I was thinking too small.

 

PS I LOVE the Performante. One of the best cars I have ever driven. It was insane. Good USED car. I have several car guy friends who drove the Performante and bought one. Guys who had been previous Ferrari only guys. I totally get it. I still remember clearly the time I spent driving the H-P. Its a rule changer for Lambo.

 

As someone who is getting a Pista, I certainly hope none of you buy one and the rest of the world follows suit...then I will have a very rare car!

 

Don't kid yourself. Modern LE cars have "1 of" badges on them. They are "Limited Edition" and will always be more sought after and much harder to get allocations. Modern production cars are production cars and the market reflects it. Less produced production cars may keep better values over high production but only if they are well liked and still nothing like an LE car with the badge. Perhaps LEs may be even more sought after if they keep adding the confusion of artificially limiting production of certain versions and introducing multitudes of new models. The wise dollar is waiting for the ones with the badges as always.

 

Frankly speaking, I find this LE car allocation is highly dependant on market/region. It turns out some countries are easier to get LE car but some not. For instance, I have known people who owns 2 McLaren P1s but was rejected on Senna. Maybe ferrari has played this game to a bit further, but I would say it really depends on the country/region where one lives.