i was wondering how much ferrari sales guys make per year?

There was an article in the Vancouver Sun about Vancouver Ferrari Sales Manager Stuart Coutts.

It starts off like this:

" Considering car sales as a future?-- then aim at selling Ferraris as the commissions for selling the coveted automobile may enable you to afford one.

This week a judgment rendered by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Nicole Garson into a claim by a salesman for severence pay following the closure of the Brian Jessel Ferrari dealership showed that selling the Italian sports car can earn commissions exceeding $300,000 a year.
Sales manager Stuart Coutts launched the suit after being laid off from his job last May when the dealership closed. Coutts had worked for 4.5 years and received $35,000 in severence pay but claimed that he had been owed 8 to 12 months salary--- instead of the 7 weeks he received.

Garson dismissed the company's claim that Coutt's was given sufficient severence and he had not looked hard enough for a new job. She awarded the 35 year old salesman $102,885 in severence pay plus $8,250 in commissions that were owed him for cars sold before the dealership closed.

According to evidence presented in court, Coutts, who did not finish Grade 12, has sold cars for most of his working life and was appointed sales manager for Ferrari in 1998.

The judge based her decision after reviewing Coutts' earnings which were as follows:
1998- ( for 3 months) $18,311
1999-$165,950
2000-$206,566
2001-$300,587
2002-$282,764
2003- ( for 5 months) $107,112

The judge found that Coutts was entitled to 30 weeks termination notice, of which he received 11, and ordered Brian Jessel Autosports to pay him the remaining 19 weeks at a rate of $5,415 a week"

 

Remember that this article refers to A) the sales manager (who probably gets a cut of each of his reps' sales, in addition to his own, and B) it's in $Canadian.

So if you figure an average year nets him CAD 250k = US$190k, you can assume a regular sales guy makes a chunk less than that.

So probably low-to-mid 100s is what you can expect.

nlh

 

Remember it also depends upon the dealership. How many cars do they get per year, how many sales people work there and of course every dealership I am sure has a different commision structure. My guess very few make mid six figures.

 

I sold high line cars in the early 90's and made $80k or so. Some of the guys in the late 80's were making $100k back then. I don't know what they make now but my guess is that it is probably less. I base that on knowing that everyone has access to dealer costs figures over the Internet now. I doubt that the gross margins are as high now as they were back then. I'm speaking of Porsche's, BMW's and Audi's. Ferrari's are a different story. I doubt they do much discounting on the new cars. We all know that the real money is in used cars.

 

I would agree with this 100%.

 

I have a small dealership of my own with two other partners. The profit ain't in the high-end cars, it's in the cheap ones.

Case in point:

I bought a 2000 BMW 323Ci convertible a month ago that is in PERFECT condition and I can't seem to sell. The maximum profit potential on this beauty for me is about $3,000. It's still for sale.

Two days AFTER I bought the BMW, I also bought a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix with 80K miles for $4800. Sold 8 days later for $6900.

Which is more profitable? Do the math.

 

AH HA! We have a winner. There is a mountain of money in the low end of the business. Some of these non descript car lots you drive past have owners making 80k per month with only 8k in overhead. This is the extreme high end of course but profits go from 8-14% right through the roof to even 100% and up. Also, you can pack a lot for 400k where as in the high end world this will buy you a couple of cars that you can floor foreverrrrrr. A 'cheap' dealer with a good reputation can make a killing...I know several who have turned themselves into property investors through $2800 cars. Volume,Volume and more volume. Turn your money over for 50% in days? Legally? What else offers that return?

Why can't everyone do it? Simple...it is a tough business and obtaining the cars is challenge number one. Also, many find it hard to avoid the greed factor and start to drift from the business practices that gave them their start. I was waiting for someone to bring this up...too many people look to the business for the glory cars.

 

Damn, they pay six figures for walking around a bunch of Ferraris selling people on how great they are? I know a bunch of enthusiasts happy to do that for free! And then if you get to give people test drives in the various used Ferraris... hell, I might pay to have that job!! Occasionally help out service by moving around the customers' Ferraris. Well, I guess there's the downside of having to work weekends going to the various Ferrari, FCA, and FerrariChat events... oh, wait, I pay to go to those now anyway! Now the company would be paying for it! All that and you get six figures! Oh, yeah, I'm in... where do I apply!

 

Actually, I believe Stuart was the only sales person.

 

you also have to remember that during these years that stuart made this amount of money, there was the modena to sell. I think he was just lucky to get that job. Anybody could've done that. its not necessarily that he's a good salesman or anything.
I bet that he wouldnt even be making that much if ferrari pulled a bangle.

 

This is sad but true, and it applies beyond just cars. Any crappy restaurant that has your standard American restaurant fare - appetizers of onion flowers, crispy chicken strips, quesadillas - an Applebees-type place, but not even necessarily a chain - makes more money per month, getting hundreds and hundreds of customers per day, than most extremely nice restaurants at the top of you Zagat list make per year.

IMO, it applies to most businesses. You make more money selling cheaper stuff in bulk than selling small amounts of expensive stuff.

 

Just look at Wal-mart!

 

LOL, you couldn't pay me enough to be a Ferrari salesman. Imagine having to deal with nut cases all day long. On one hand, you have FNA that loses cars. (Sorry, I couldn't resist Brian.) Then, on the other hand, you have to put up with extremely anal buyers who spend hours on F-Chat obsessing over every rumor and gossip that they feel they must share with you.

To prove my point, walk into a Ferrari dealership carrying the latest edition of Road & Track. You know, the one with the picture of the new 360? Odds are that everybody will start making the sign of the cross because they have come to hate that picture. You see, the dealers haven't been told a thing about the new car. But this hasn't stopped customers from calling up and having a hissy fit because they are not on the LIST!

Hey, it is a lot more fun to drive them, than to sell em.

Dr "Hissy Fit" Tax

ps They don't make six figures either.

 

Since we're talking about how much people in our industry can make, you should know that the main factor limiting salespeople's commissions are the dealership owners. Pay plans change with the seasons it seems.

Most salespeople seem to make $75-100K CAD if they have been at a high end (BMW-MB-Porsche-Jag) store for a few years, and are good at it, and not clock watchers. Make more than that however, and your commissions can end up getting "pencilled" or you end up getting "promoted". This is a generalization as not all owners are like this......but it's a common practice and a common gripe around the water cooler per say.

Great incentive plan either way isn't it.....heh......you now get to work hard for less.......because you were good at it.

And money wise.....the percentile returns upon resale, and the risk of carrying the cars that attracts the venture capitalists, looks best on the cars under $50K......

 

In my experience, almost every manufacturer has had a good seller. You can not live off of that or pay business expenses from that one model.
That amount of income might have resulted from the hundreds of 'other' cars that were sold at the same time. A franchise can not have just a lucky salesman in place where the process can sometimes take 3 years with one customer and involve such quick movers like the 456M and a Rolls Royce trade in that has lost half its value.

I can set you up on 100% commission somewhere if you would like to give it a shot. Grandad always said...concentrate hard before you open your mouth and say " I think..."

 

It's like any otjher sales job...there will be a couple that make money, then others in the middle, then depends on the store.

I think the better place to make money is a Honda store...just my guess.

I think a good sales guy will just make 6 figures at a Ferrari store. But high end marque does not mean high earnings.

In the stereo biz, there are guys that want to sell Krell, Cary, and all that but can't make a living so they go to Good Guys Tweeter or Magnolia and sell Sony. I have a customer that sells cameras and hates selling high end stuff because it pays poorly...no profit as the buyers are grinders

 

It doesn't take a brainer to be successful in a food buisness and all you have to do is open up a Buffet style restaurant with lots of cheap food and viola you'll be driving a Ferrari,j/k.Seems like most americans prefer quantity over quality and no wonder places like " Ryans" & " Golden Corral " are busy as xxxx.
Yasir

 

I have been told that a F-dealer sales manager makes approx $200K a year in California. I dont know how it is in other states.

 

It really all depends at which dealership they work, location, how good they are, and how much effort they put into the job. There is no way anyone on this forum can give you a cieling and floor Dollar amount of how much a Ferrari sales man makes. Maybe at best an educated guess, depending on the location, but there are too many variables that decide the exact sum of money.

 

What exactly does a Ferrari salesman do besides sit at his desk and ignore customers?
Oh ya , once in a while say please don't touch the cars.