Let’s face it-Ferrari is one of the most iconic car brands when it comes to motorsport heritage, racing, luxury and pure exclusivity. But, buying a Ferrari is not as easy as you think. Remember, you are buying a Ferrari, not just any other regular car. You cannot just go to a Ferrari store and ask for a Ferrari and expect that you will get the one that you want immediately, take the keys and speed away into the horizon. It is quite complicated, and controversial. I will explain how it is, and I will also explain why it is, one of Ferrari’s weak points.
Now, for a little bit background, the exclusivity of a Ferrari is very real. Ferraris are very valuable, not just because of their price and the expensive materials used to build the car, it is because they are not easy to buy as mentioned above and they are manufactured in extremely limited numbers. Ferrari, for all the customers of the entire world, produces only 8400 cars per year. To give some perspective, Maruti Suzuki, produces 1,563,297 cars per year in India alone! One of the reasons for this very limited number of cars produced, is that Ferrari focuses on quality over quantity. Italians are known for producing good-quality products. Ferrari is no different. Italians are known for treating their products as works of art. Ferrari also treats their cars as works of art. That is the reason why Ferrari focuses so much on the beauty of their cars and the artistic feel that they create. To sum it up, Ferrari is extremely meticulous about the quality of their cars and the way they are produced. Also, another reason is that Ferrari makes their cars by hand as far as possible. Ferrari believes in this tedious method of making cars by hand as far as possible because Ferrari believes that this is the way of making cars that feel, and are, as beautiful and excellent as possible when it comes to quality. This might cause customers who have ordered their Ferrari, to wait for a year or two, because making cars by hand takes a lot of time. Ferrari is not the car company for those looking for instant gratification. But, that exclusivity is what makes a Ferrari so valuable. So valuable in fact, that Ferrari earns as much profit selling 1 car, as much as Ford earns by selling 908 cars! Well, let us now cut to the chase. Say, you have done some arrangement and you have a pile of money burning a hole in your pocket. How do you get the prancing horse of your dreams, the Italian stallion that you so badly want? HOW DO YOU BUY A FERRARI?
Well, the thing is, that money doesn’t cut it. As mentioned above, it is not that simple. Money, fame, whatever you have, you cannot just buy a Ferrari like that. The process is not a cakewalk. In an interview with thedrive.com, the fact that Ferrari’s own employees are not allowed to buy their cars, and the process of owning a Ferrari, was thrown light upon by Ferrari’s chief marketing and commercial officer, Enrico Galleria. This is with the exception of F1 drivers of the Ferrari team, and even they have to pay the entire price for the car, without any discount. In that interview, Enrico said that it is not the buyer that chooses to buy a Ferrari, Ferrari has to choose you in order for you to be able to buy the car. As a Ferrari customer, you have to be eligible in order to buy a Ferrari. He said that quote” The most difficult part of my job is to say no…At the very beginning you receive applications from people who do not deserve (to buy a Ferrari), they simply have the money. ‘I am the king of something, so I deserve the car. I say ‘Yes, but you are not a Ferrari client”. Basically, he breaks down the process of how Ferrari selects it’ s owners, who deserve a Ferrari, and how to get into it’ s good graces. If you are in that so-called preferred-owner’s list (preferably the top 200, as stated by Enrico), you get the prancing horse, and you can even get the limited-edition models. Ferrari has specific guidelines for buying their cars and also, more stringent rules for limited-run models like the La-Ferrari. Not only do customers have to own multiple Ferraris, but they also have to have a very close relationship with the brand, they have to regularly attend events like the Cavalcade Road Rallies where Ferraris meet up in the hundreds and go for a drive. Another way to get closer to the brand, is to join their exclusive racing school in Italy and attending all the high-profile motorsports events like F1 races. The idea is to do good networking and to make sure that the people that matter know your name. Getting in Ferrari’s good graces requires more than just owning a few Ferraris. And giving your sincere effort in developing that relation with Ferrari does not even guarantee that you might get the car that you want and it does not guarantee you a spot on their list. Ferrari will not publicly acknowledge that they have a list of preferred clients that they might sell their latest and limited-run Ferraris to, but the people who tried and failed to get a Ferrari will tell you that it’s all too real. There are many people who are huge fans of Ferrari and have ticked all the boxes, but came up short in Ferrari’s eyes and were not allowed to get limited-run Ferraris like the Enzo and the La-Ferrari Convertible. So, it does not matter if you fit all the requirements. Ferrari has to think that you are capable.
Anyway, what are the requirements? There are many, but I will try to specify that in brief. When you want to buy a Ferrari, age is just a number, even though they generally look for a person who is over 40 years old. Ferrari wants the people seen in its cars to have stability and something to lose. Those above 40 most likely fit in that category. When you go to a Ferrari dealership and ask for the latest limited-run car, for example the La-Ferrari, they won’ t just give it to you. They will show you an older or lower-end model or a used car and they will ask you if you want to buy it or not. At this point, they will try to analyze whether you are about that Ferrari lifestyle or not. They want their clientele to be passionate about Ferrari. If you want a Ferrari, you do not want to be in their bad books. If they do not like you, they will not sell you any Ferrari! If you say yes, and keep buying the Ferraris that you can buy until you have collected a fairly good amount, and if you get in their good books, you can get the Ferrari that you want. But the flip side to this, is as mentioned above, that even if you tick all the boxes, chances are that you can be denied the Ferrari that you want. I know that all this sounds unbelievable, but ask anyone, this is true. Also, once you get your priced Ferrari, you have to maintain certain rules. As mentioned above, you have to attend all the events as far as you can. All Ferrari owners have their own community, so you might get invited to many events. You have to attend all those Ferrari events, with your Ferraris. You cannot sell your new limited-run Ferrari immediately after buying it just so that you can get a profit out of it because of the worldwide demand for the car. You have to wait for a year at least. Potential owners must agree to go for a rigorous background check. Ferrari will do a rigorous background check. Not only do they want to know if you can pay for it, they also want to make sure that only the right type of people are seen behind the wheel in one of their vehicles. You cannot modify your Ferrari. What I mean, is that you cannot paint your Ferrari a specific color, you cannot modify the engine, the body and anything else. Many people have modified their Ferraris and they have been threatened by Ferrari and forced to deal with all the changes that they have made to their Ferrari. Ferrari sends “CEASE-AND-DESIST” letters to threaten those who modify their Ferraris and tarnish the brand’s reputation (according to Ferrari) in any way, and to give a final warning by saying that if the person does not stop doing the illegal activity that he/she is doing with the Ferrari, then legal action will be taken against the person. There was this famous case in the past where EDM producer deadmau5 custom-wrapped his Ferrari. Not only that, he removed the Ferrari badges and in their place he placed cat logos and changed the inscription from “Ferrari” to “Purrari”. Deadmau5 received a cease-and-desist letter from Ferrari because the badges were copied of course and it was against the brand’s reputation. When you have to give your Ferrari for service or maintenance, you can only give it to an authorized Ferrari store or dealership. If you give it for servicing to any unauthorized service shop or to your local mechanic, not only is your warranty void, but you are forbidden from buying a Ferrari in the future.
Unless you sing the brand’s praises, your name will not be there on the limited- edition waiting list.
You cannot criticize or bad-mouth the Ferrari, like 50 Cent did. Also, you cannot even give a critical review on any Ferrari if the brand does not allow you to. The answer is generally no. When the Ferrari La-Ferrari released, no one knew how it compared to it’ s actual competitors, like the McLaren P1 or the Porsche 918 Spyder. This was because as Top Gear reported, Ferrari banned every single La-Ferrari from giving it to any publication and reviewer for official track testing. If any owner did that, they would never be able to buy any other limited-edition Ferrari again. Also for some flashback, in 2011, Top Gear reporter Chris Harris, wrote a blog post for Jalopnik entitled “How Ferrari Spins”. It criticized the performance of one of the Ferrari models that Harris reviewed, where he claimed that Ferrari optimized test cars to ensure excellent results in magazine performance tests, whereas the actual car did not perform so good. As a result, Ferrari banned Harris and even removed him from the list of journalists who were allowed to review Ferrari’ s cars. You also have to visit the factory and appreciate Ferrari’s heritage in order to be the potential Ferrari customer. Robert Herjavec, is one of the best Ferrari customers on the planet. He has plenty of Ferraris in his collection. So, what earned Herjavec so many Ferraris, even the latest ones? It is believed that customers need to own at least five Ferraris just to be considered, and more than that is advised! So, having tons of money is the most fundamental requirement, because when you own a Ferrari, buying is not the end. You also have to maintain it and get it serviced regularly, which is pretty expensive. Herjavec said that the Ferrari community is not a relatively limited group, but it actually includes thousands of people. So, individual Ferrari dealers submit names of their most loyal customers who they think should get one. That list is sent away to Maranello, where corporate bigwigs make the final decisions. Herjavec says that people assume that buying a Ferrari, like any other big purchase is a financial decision. I thought so too. But, the reality is that that they use it (the car) as a reward for people who are loyal to the brand. And he also said that you never really know whether you get the car or not until you actually get it. To give an example, the La-Ferrari is a limited-run Ferrari because only 499 were produced. The surprising thing is that all 499 La-Ferraris were already sold before it’ s public unveiling. The right to buy the Ferrari is rewarded to people that are true to the brand and a part of it, and understand it for what it is.
To give some examples of people ticking the boxes failing, ask 85-year old former racing driver, entrepreneur and multi-millionaire Preston Henn, who has collected Ferraris for decades and who recently hit the headlines for his attempt to sue Ferrari after being told he couldn’t have the Aperta.
Preston Henn has owned more than 18 different Ferraris, including the original Ferrari Formula 1 car driven by Michael Schumacher himself! He has collected so many Ferraris and maintained a close relationship with the brand. Despite that, he was denied the limited-run, La-Ferrari convertible. Even after sending a 1 million dollar check directly to Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne as a down payment, he was told that he was “not qualified” to get it. Ferrari handpicks its customers, taking them to it’ s headquarters to get a first-hand look at plans for the upcoming model. So, we now can say that when you buy a Ferrari, it is not you that choose Ferrari, Ferrari chooses you. And also, just buying a Ferrari does not give you the feel that you own one, because following the rules makes it feel like that.
We can conclude from this that getting a Ferrari is not easy. Ferrari relies on it’ s exclusivity in order to create a business model and sell cars. That makes it so weird. People do not perceive Ferrari to be how Ferrari perceives itself. So, the challenge and the weak point of Ferrari is that it is making cars to celebrate their racing success and heritage, whereas people perceive the car to be a symbol of financial success. Ironically, the company has become something that the founder Enzo Ferrari himself wouldn’t recognize. Now, it is more associated with being a part of a lifestyle or a community rather than just the feel of having a powerful car with good performance. Plus, the way rich people treat Ferraris also matter. The sad thing is that some people treat them as objects, status symbols and ways of gaining profit by selling when demand is high. Whereas, they are about the driving experience which they have been engineered for. I love and respect Ferrari and I am not trying to criticize it. I am just saying that getting a Ferrari is a side hustle in itself which can take time. I also want to conclude that the weird and complicated processes of getting a Ferrari and being part of the community might not attract future customers and also that Ferrari needs to know who is buying their cars and what the world thinks of them.
Thank you for reading my blog !!!
