With Ferrari now separating from Fiat... sort of... will they reverse the old guard's decision to limit production to below 7,000 cars in the name of scarcity? Maybe? Maybe not?
The next Fchat freakout comes courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, employing a bit of well-informed speculation.
“If exclusivity becomes unreachable, it is no longer exclusivity,” said Mr. Marchionne, who is also chief executive of Fiat Chrysler. The auto maker is in the early days of a five-year product overhaul that is expected to cost $60 billion. “Let’s not fool ourselves here. We are in business to supply cars to people,” he said.
Ferrari has declined to comment on how many more cars it might produce.
The caps on production, which dates back decades, helps stoke sales of Ferrari-branded jackets, shirts and posters and tickets to the Ferrari World theme park in Abu Dhabi. It also plays an important role in keeping prices of used Ferraris high, a major selling point. Nine of the top 10 most expensive cars sold at auction in the past year were Ferraris, including a 1962 250 GTO that in August went for a record $38 million.
While it's true that Ferrari could be too exclusive, especially as there are more buyers for high-end performance cars, it doesn't seem like they're at that point yet.