Opinion: Ferrari’s Business Model is Breaking

Their exclusivity model is failing, with depreciation increasing and demand slowing, but shifting into a volume manufacturer has its risks.

Courtesy of Ferrari
Ferrari-Purosangue. Courtesy of Ferrari

Ferrari’s former CEO, Sergio Marchionne, said that they would make a Ferrari SUV “over his dead body.” He died a year after that statement, and Ferrari started building their SUV, disclosing their new Purosangue SUV in 2022. The name means ‘purebred’ — which feels like a bad joke — but it has sold incredibly well and remains the only Ferraris to resell well above sticker. It may be the only highly successful product that Ferrari currently makes.

Ferrari is an uncertain place, as the deal they’ve made with customers for the past few decades has stopped working. The deal was that, if customers bought the entry models — like the California roadster — then they’d be in the running to buy the next model up the rung, their V8 supercar — like the F8 Tribuno. Once you buy a few of these, you can buy the V12 model — like the 812 Superfast — and if you buy more of those, you can buy their limited, special edition variants. And only after years and millions in spending, if your dealer likes you, will you have a chance at buying the multi-million dollar, limited edition hypercars, like the LaFerrari.

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