Dubai: You don’t get to choose a 70th anniversary edition Ferrari. Ferrari has already choosen who gets to buy their limited edition models, and the final deliveries of the 350 units should be complete before the year is out, according to a top official at the Italian carmaker.
Two of the models bearing the 70th anniversary imprint were on display at the Al Tayer Motors showroom in Dubai on Sunday. The local dealership also showed off the LaFerrari Aperta, of which only 209 units have been made. One of them fetched 8.3 million euros (Dh36.45 million) during a 70th anniversary charity. Middle East clients bagged a “large chunk” of the allocations, said Dieter Knechtel, Ferrari’s CEO for the Far East and Middle East geography.
“And that’s in the high double-digit percentage share. We started with the deliveries early this year and should be done with it by year-end.”
Even before going into production in the second-half of the previous year, Ferrari had a full list of who those buyers would be. They were chosen based on dealership inputs and were willing to pay a significant premium over the base model prices.
And unlike with a standard Ferrari model where the eventual owner gets to decide on the customisation trims, for the 70th the carmaker provided all of the inputs. And the buyers - all of them committed Ferrari buyers of long standing - get to drive off with what’s been provided. (And for those who missed out? There’s always the 80th anniversary models to wait for). The 350 units are split across five established Ferrari models - California T, F12 Berlinetta, 488GTB, 488 Spider and GTC4Lusso.
These 70th anniversary editions should provide a nice topping for Ferrari’s full-year numbers. The first six months saw the sportscar manufacturer ship out 4,335 units in total against 4,096 units a year ago, while revenues were 1.74 billion euros (against 1.48 billion euros in the first half of 2016).
But the numbers could yet do with some revving up in the Middle East. “We got off to a relatively slow start… but have been holding the line since,” said Knechtel. “Since then there has been a strong July and September’s indicating enough is happening to take care of the next three months.
“And we’ve consistently maintained that whatever the state of the market, Ferrari’s not about giving away cars easily.”
For the wider UAE market, it’s not been a particularly memorable year, not by a long stretch. The year-to-date decline would be in the high 10 per cent plus. Now their hope is that enough will happen in the fourth quarter to compensate for what happened earlier.
As for Ferrari, it’s getting closer to a significant boost before the year is out, and it takes the shape of the 812 Berlinetta, priced from Dh1.26 million. “The first deliveries will happen then and there will be considerable focus on this region,” said Knechtel.
“Our production this year is relatively small, and we haven’t confirmed what it would be next year. The 812’s response has been overwhelming… to the extent that some territories have already accounted for a four-year production cycle.
“Ideally, we want to meet all orders within a year, but with the 812, we could be looking at about two years. Our buyers are typically not used to waiting that long.”
