Ferrari Sales Hit Hard by Global Credit Crisis
Dec 8, 2008 | 09:54 AM
#1
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 31,554
From: Zoo York
Ferrari Sales Hit Hard by Global Credit Crisis November sales plummet to 92 cars
Times are tough for virtually all automakers due to the current financial crisis and it now appears that one of the world's most prestigious sports car makers isn't immune to declining sales. Ferrari has reported that their monthly global sales for November totaled 92 cars compared to their normal average of 600 a month.
The company has decided to take action by cutting its workforce by 10 percent and starting talks with trade unions to eliminate additional employees. This could potentially result in more than 300 people being laid off by the end of the week, with the chance of more layoffs in the future if market conditions fail to improve. Production at Ferrari's Maranello plant will also be stopped for 20 days during the upcoming Christmas holiday in order to keep vehicle inventory in check.
Perhaps the oddest thing about Ferrari's situation is that the company currently has a two-year waiting list but in some markets unsold cars are starting to pile up, particularly in the United Kingdom. Ferrari's chairman, Luca di Montezemolo, had previously stated that the company wouldn't feel the pressure from the economic crisis, as a decline in sales in one market would free up cars for markets with higher demand and long waiting lists. According to sources sales of the 612 Scaglietti and 599 Fiorano have essentially flat-lined, and sales of the volume leader F430 have all but disappeared thanks to the unveiling of the similarly priced Ferrari California.
A company spokesperson attempted to dismiss the reports countering that luxury vehicle sales typically decline towards the end of the year and that Ferrari's US sales have only slowed a little. However they did admit that the company currently has a vehicle stockpile in the UK and the introduction of the California has put a serious damper on sales of the F430 Spider.
Times are tough for virtually all automakers due to the current financial crisis and it now appears that one of the world's most prestigious sports car makers isn't immune to declining sales. Ferrari has reported that their monthly global sales for November totaled 92 cars compared to their normal average of 600 a month.
The company has decided to take action by cutting its workforce by 10 percent and starting talks with trade unions to eliminate additional employees. This could potentially result in more than 300 people being laid off by the end of the week, with the chance of more layoffs in the future if market conditions fail to improve. Production at Ferrari's Maranello plant will also be stopped for 20 days during the upcoming Christmas holiday in order to keep vehicle inventory in check.
Perhaps the oddest thing about Ferrari's situation is that the company currently has a two-year waiting list but in some markets unsold cars are starting to pile up, particularly in the United Kingdom. Ferrari's chairman, Luca di Montezemolo, had previously stated that the company wouldn't feel the pressure from the economic crisis, as a decline in sales in one market would free up cars for markets with higher demand and long waiting lists. According to sources sales of the 612 Scaglietti and 599 Fiorano have essentially flat-lined, and sales of the volume leader F430 have all but disappeared thanks to the unveiling of the similarly priced Ferrari California.
A company spokesperson attempted to dismiss the reports countering that luxury vehicle sales typically decline towards the end of the year and that Ferrari's US sales have only slowed a little. However they did admit that the company currently has a vehicle stockpile in the UK and the introduction of the California has put a serious damper on sales of the F430 Spider.
Dec 8, 2008 | 11:56 AM
#5
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 3,209
From: City of Angels and Nice Cars
we don't want to invest in somebody claiming to be recession resistent, we like the guys that say we've grown this year but would have grown a lot more if it weren't for this damned economy.
Dec 8, 2008 | 12:07 PM
#6
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,830
I can not tell you how many businesses tell us they have a "recession resistent" model right now just for us to dive into their financials and within seconds find multiple deal-killing problems....
we don't want to invest in somebody claiming to be recession resistent, we like the guys that say we've grown this year but would have grown a lot more if it weren't for this damned economy.
we don't want to invest in somebody claiming to be recession resistent, we like the guys that say we've grown this year but would have grown a lot more if it weren't for this damned economy.
Dec 8, 2008 | 01:39 PM
#8
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 6,097
From: East Coast
I do find it interesting that they have such long waiting lists but yet have overstocked unsold inventory? How does that exactly work? Is it all older models like 360's? Because those had a huge waitlist also and if they are all used models then why is Ferrari worried about reselling them?
