Longer waiting lists masking real Ferrari sales

Ferrari is outselling all uber-luxury brands Down Under, with actual annual sales now up to 50 per cent more than official registration figures indicate. That's the inside line from Ferrari Australasia boss, Herbert Appleroth.

In Melbourne for the local unveiling of Ferrari's new entry-level $409K California T, Appleroth told motoring.com.au that waiting lists for some models had stretched to around two years. He suggested most California T buyers would likely be waiting 12 months to take delivery of their new car.

The growing waiting lists are doing little to stifle Ferrari demand, says Appleroth.

"What you’re seeing [in VFACTS registration data] is just the deliveries as such," Appleroth told motoring.com.au.

"Our job is to build market-leading cars to entertain our clients in a way that our competition cannot... And we generate considerably more demand than what you’re seeing... If you’re seeing we’re averaging at probably 100, 110, 120 cars per year, you’ll see the demand for Ferrari, (but) the actual orders collected are far exceeding that," he explained.

"We would probably tend to have 30-50 per cent more orders than what we deliver... what varies is the waiting list. For example, the 458 Speciale, when we launched in Sydney, instantly that night we had one year’s worth of orders."

Last year (2013) Ferrari registered 106 cars in Australia, eight up on 2013 but 28 down on 2011. In the last five years (2009-2013) 568 Ferraris were registered in Australia. This was more than Bentley (342), Lamborghini (191), Aston Martin (489) and McLaren (49).

By way of comparison, sister brand Maserati, which is seeking to aggressively grow sales globally, registered 659 units, but in 2014 has already more than doubled Ferrari's local volume.

Appleroth says Ferrari Australasia could secure more allocation but contends creating exclusivity is key to the brand's success.

"I could steal it [allocation] from another market and fulfil the demand. But that’s not all that it’s about... It's about creating exclusivity.

"People actually ask us 'How many are you going to bring in?' because they want that exclusivity," Appleroth stated.

Although nearly $50,000 cheaper than the model it replaces, Appleroth contends the new California T will reinforce strong resale values.

"We’re not going out there to try and meet demand -- that’s not our brand, and that’s shown in resale values. If you look at the resale value of a California, you’re talking 65 to 70 per cent residual value after three years.

"No luxury cars are anywhere near us. And that’s what we propagate. We’re not here for the short term to make quick volume. I could be a hero and do 200 cars in Australia, but it’s not about that," Appleroth stated.

While Ferrari has stated it will continue to limit global annual production to 7000 cars, Maserati hopes to build up to 50,000 per annum from next year.

"The approach is different [to Maserati]… I mean Maserati is obviously not really competitors for Ferrari. And even more so in the future -- it’s moving further and further away, and they have great volume expectations.

"That’s a different business model for us -- completely different business model. I mean, we are a dream factory," he stated.