- 23 Feb 14, 13:35#392538
Ferrari announces record profits as the Italian car maker is named the most powerful global brand for the second year running
By Michael Harvey
February 19, 2014 10:12
Ferrari’s new single-seater will be pounding around the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain this week in preparation for the new Grand Prix season starting in March. Testing of the new car has so far been promising. The car is reliable (which, given complex new engines is not a given this year) and fast. Ish. Maybe not quite as fast as Lewis Hamilton’s new Mercedes or Jenson Button’s new McLaren but fast enough, Ferrari will hope, to give Fernando Alonso and the returning Kimi Raikkonen a crack at the title this year. Maybe.
Not that actually winning seems to bother the bottom line anymore. Ferrari has announced record profits and, separately, was named world’s most powerful brand by the consultants Brand Finance.
Brand Finance uses a complex and sometimes impenetrable formula to come to its conclusion, with data harvested from numerous external sources on everything from marketing spend to trademark protection, CEO performance to employee satisfaction, and "sentiment index", measuring the emotional component of the brand itself. There are 37 data lines in all and Ferrari scores 94 per cent, putting itself ahead of Coca-Cola, PricewaterhouseCoopers, McKinsey & Company and, in ninth place, its racing nemesis Red Bull. For reference, fellow Telegraph Luxury regulars Hermes and Rolex finished seventh and eighth among the list of powerful brands.
Brand power and brand value are of course different things and the value chart is headed, as is traditional now, by Apple, with Samsung closing in and ahead of Google and Microsoft. Toyota (11) and BMW (17) are the most valuable cars brands; Ferrari’s US$4 billion brand valuation puts it way down the value list in 350, but that’s a factor of its tiny productions (6,922 Ferrari’s were delivered to dealers last year versus Toyota’s 9.9 million).
Ferrari production was actually down last year, by just over five per cent, but this was always the plan. Since record sales in 2012 the company’s strategy has been to increase the value of its products by limiting their numbers. Just take a look at the comparative value of Ferrari’s classic cars to appreciate this simple lesson in supply and demand: the more rare the model, the more stratospheric price it fetches.
Accordingly, Ferrari’s turnover increased last year as did its profits at €246million. As a result Ferrari now has €1.36billion cash at hand and no debt. It’s a remarkable figure for a luxury car maker, let alone one who has completely reinvented itself and in the process rebuilt most all of its R&D and production facilities over the last decade.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, the architect of Ferrari’s successful strategy, said: "This is a very important result that comes as a direct consequence of the huge effort made by everyone. We wanted to maintain a high level of exclusivity, designing amazing products such as the LaFerrari, the 458 Speciale and the just launched California T, the result of significant investment in product and technological innovation."
He went on: "We have also taken important strategic decisions relating to the brand which will make an ever increasing contribution to the success of the company," referring to a new wholly-owned business that will control the non-automotive activities of the company. Fast cars however are still Ferrari’s line of business, the "brand related activities" accounted for just €53 million of a total of €2.3billion revenues last year.
Ferrari will soon begin deliveries of its most expensive car yet, the astonishing V12-electric LaFerrari hybrid of which just 499 will be built. All were sold before the car made its public debut. Last week the company announced its first turbocharged car in over 30 years, the California T.
Both the hybrid powertrain in the LaFerrari and the turbocharger in the new California are designed to reduce emissions and improve efficiency, part of a green wave that’s even seen the F1 rules rewritten improve the mpg of F1 cars by no less than 30 per cent. Bloomberg scored Ferrari ahead of its peers for its environmental performance in the Brand Finance report, though I suspect that will be less on the minds of Messers Alonso and Raikkonen this week than the new F-14T’s outright speed. Ferrari’s requirement for its racing cars to finish first may be reduced, but it won’t stop them trying.
Ferrari
http://www.ferrari.com
"He was the fastest driver I ever saw - faster even than Fangio"
________________________- Mike Hawthorn on Alberto Ascari
Ferrari powers on as world's most powerful brand
Ferrari announces record profits as the Italian car maker is named the most powerful global brand for the second year running
By Michael Harvey
February 19, 2014 10:12
Ferrari’s new single-seater will be pounding around the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain this week in preparation for the new Grand Prix season starting in March. Testing of the new car has so far been promising. The car is reliable (which, given complex new engines is not a given this year) and fast. Ish. Maybe not quite as fast as Lewis Hamilton’s new Mercedes or Jenson Button’s new McLaren but fast enough, Ferrari will hope, to give Fernando Alonso and the returning Kimi Raikkonen a crack at the title this year. Maybe.
Not that actually winning seems to bother the bottom line anymore. Ferrari has announced record profits and, separately, was named world’s most powerful brand by the consultants Brand Finance.
Brand Finance uses a complex and sometimes impenetrable formula to come to its conclusion, with data harvested from numerous external sources on everything from marketing spend to trademark protection, CEO performance to employee satisfaction, and "sentiment index", measuring the emotional component of the brand itself. There are 37 data lines in all and Ferrari scores 94 per cent, putting itself ahead of Coca-Cola, PricewaterhouseCoopers, McKinsey & Company and, in ninth place, its racing nemesis Red Bull. For reference, fellow Telegraph Luxury regulars Hermes and Rolex finished seventh and eighth among the list of powerful brands.
Brand power and brand value are of course different things and the value chart is headed, as is traditional now, by Apple, with Samsung closing in and ahead of Google and Microsoft. Toyota (11) and BMW (17) are the most valuable cars brands; Ferrari’s US$4 billion brand valuation puts it way down the value list in 350, but that’s a factor of its tiny productions (6,922 Ferrari’s were delivered to dealers last year versus Toyota’s 9.9 million).
Ferrari production was actually down last year, by just over five per cent, but this was always the plan. Since record sales in 2012 the company’s strategy has been to increase the value of its products by limiting their numbers. Just take a look at the comparative value of Ferrari’s classic cars to appreciate this simple lesson in supply and demand: the more rare the model, the more stratospheric price it fetches.
Accordingly, Ferrari’s turnover increased last year as did its profits at €246million. As a result Ferrari now has €1.36billion cash at hand and no debt. It’s a remarkable figure for a luxury car maker, let alone one who has completely reinvented itself and in the process rebuilt most all of its R&D and production facilities over the last decade.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, the architect of Ferrari’s successful strategy, said: "This is a very important result that comes as a direct consequence of the huge effort made by everyone. We wanted to maintain a high level of exclusivity, designing amazing products such as the LaFerrari, the 458 Speciale and the just launched California T, the result of significant investment in product and technological innovation."
He went on: "We have also taken important strategic decisions relating to the brand which will make an ever increasing contribution to the success of the company," referring to a new wholly-owned business that will control the non-automotive activities of the company. Fast cars however are still Ferrari’s line of business, the "brand related activities" accounted for just €53 million of a total of €2.3billion revenues last year.
Ferrari will soon begin deliveries of its most expensive car yet, the astonishing V12-electric LaFerrari hybrid of which just 499 will be built. All were sold before the car made its public debut. Last week the company announced its first turbocharged car in over 30 years, the California T.
Both the hybrid powertrain in the LaFerrari and the turbocharger in the new California are designed to reduce emissions and improve efficiency, part of a green wave that’s even seen the F1 rules rewritten improve the mpg of F1 cars by no less than 30 per cent. Bloomberg scored Ferrari ahead of its peers for its environmental performance in the Brand Finance report, though I suspect that will be less on the minds of Messers Alonso and Raikkonen this week than the new F-14T’s outright speed. Ferrari’s requirement for its racing cars to finish first may be reduced, but it won’t stop them trying.
Ferrari
http://www.ferrari.com
"He was the fastest driver I ever saw - faster even than Fangio"
________________________- Mike Hawthorn on Alberto Ascari
Thanks for pointing me to the site, yes, they do comment and it certainly in line with my (sometimes rigidly logical) line of thinking. In the end though Spanky, you realize that the cache to the brand is inexorably tied to its racing history and pedigree which makes it even more ridonkulous whenever they threaten to leave F1. 
to everyone at Ferrari!! 
