Ferrari buyers tend toward the older set, for reasons that are obvious—a Prancing Horse doesn’t come cheap—and not so obvious, which is that to buy a new Ferrari you have to cultivate a relationship with Ferrari, and that can take years. But the marque’s CEO said this week that its new-owner profile is getting younger, with some 40 percent of new owners under the age of 40. A year and a half ago, that number was around 30 percent.
CEO Benedetto Vigna described this as an “achievement" in an interview with CNBC. Ferrari has a waitlist at any given time to buy one of its cars, which can take years or just months, depending on the car in question, the profile of the buyer, and Ferrari’s production levels. Ferrari likes it this way to maintain exclusivity, and buyers don’t seem to mind either, judging by how many still line up for the privilege. Still, for a younger buyer, it remains daunting.
“One client at 78-years-old had to buy a Ferrari and he said: ‘Look, I cannot wait two years.’ I said: ‘This is a motivation’," Vigna told CNBC. “There is another guy, younger, 37, and he said: ‘When I am older, I would like to get the car before I am 40.’ I said: ‘Don’t worry, you will get it when you are 39.’"
Cheng Xin
Adding to Ferrari’s youth movement is its first all-electric car,said to be coming this fall and on track for October, according to CNBC. That car will probably be a version of the Purosangue, the automaker’s SUV, and prototypes seem to have been spotted in Italy, though Ferrari has refused to discuss its new EV before launch. The Purosangue, which starts at around $400,000, isn’t the least expensive Ferrari—that would be the Roma, which starts at around $250,000—but it is an entry-level Ferrari, the Ferrari one might buy before being invited to get a crack at more desirable Ferraris, like the new 12Cilindri.
The first all-electric car will also be a nonstarter for many of Ferrari’s most loyal customers, for whom a Ferrari must have an internal combustion engine, even if it is also a hybrid. But Vigna also said that some prospective Ferrari buyers will only buy an all-electric Ferrari, which might have been a surprise even to Ferrari. It’s hard to see, at any rate, Enzo Ferrari’s basic dictum changing even in the adoption of all-electric. Ferrari will always deliver one less car than the market demands.
From the article by Erik Shilling
