Hum. One wonders what an SUV would look like? At the moment, Fiat is reserving that for Maserati with a Grand Cherokee derived offering built in Milan in 2014.
Record sales during 2012 in the U.S., China, Germany and Great Britain resulted in Ferrari posting its best financial results in the Fiat-owned brand’s fabled 66-year history. A total of 7,318 road cars were delivered to dealers (+4.5% on 2011) with revenues of €2.433 billion, an increase of 8% from 2011.
As a result Ferrari trading profit increased by 12% to €350 million euro, with net profits coming in at just under €244 million, a +17.8% gain compared to the previous year. Ferrari’s return on sales of 14.4% is among the highest in the auto business and mirrors that of the leading companies in the luxury sector.
“We are all enormously proud of ending the year with these kinds of results despite the unfavorable economic backdrop in many European nations, and the distinctly hostile one in Italy,” said Chairman Luca di Montezemolo in a statement after the Ferrari board meeting today in Maranello. He also noted that the previous Ferrari records had been set in 2008 before the collapse of the world financial markets.
The 2012 results are in line with the company’s geographical sales distribution plan, which is divided into equal parts between four centers: America, Europe and the Middle East, Greater China, Far East.
Ferrari had record sales in the U.S. and Canada in 2012 with deliveries above the 2,000-car mark for the first time (2,058), an increase of 14.6%.
Europe saw deliveries in Great Britain up by 20% (673 cars), and by 17% in Switzerland (357). Germany at 750 cars, +8%, remains Ferrari’s most important market in Europe.
Results from Italy couldn’t have been more different. Despite performing better than the average in a sector that saw a 60% drop in sales in 2012 as Italian tax authorities began scrutinizing the stated incomes of owners of luxury cars, Ferrari ended the year with 318 cars delivered to dealerships, a 46% drop compared to 2011.
The Middle East and Africa continued growth with an increase of 4.5% with deliveries of cars rising to 556.
Greater China – People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan – retained its position as the second largest market with a record 784 cars delivered or +4%, just under 500 of which went to China. Japan, a long-established Ferrari market, made a significant return to double-figure growth (+ 14.4%) with 302 cars delivered.
The results delivered by brand-related activities saw a 40% increase in operating margin to more than €50 million from retail, licensing and e-commerce. Retail results were up 5%, which Ferrari attributed to a “new interior design concept,” which will be extended to the 50 Ferrari Stores around the world.
