Even Ferrari is feeling the pinch with staff cuts likely, writes Michael Taylor
THE WORLD'S most glamorous car company has denied it has fallen victim to the global economic crisis, even though it plans to shed up to 10 per cent of its workforce.
Italian supercar maker Ferrari saw its global sales plummet from almost 600 a month to just 92 cars in November, and is negotiating with Italy's trade unions to trim road-car production staff number. It has admitted it could shed up to 300 employees as early as this Friday.
It will also shut its Maranello production plant for an unprecedented 20 days over Christmas, which sources insist will be to prevent vehicle stockpiles reaching unmanageable levels.
Ferrari won its 16th Formula One World Constructor's Championship last month and still boasts a two-year waiting list on its high-priced, exclusive road cars, but sources insist troubling stocks have built up at some of its distributors around the world, particularly in the UK.
As recently as the Paris Motor Show in October, its chairman, Luca di Montezemolo, had targeted 10,000 cars for 2010 which, even with its new California on stream early next year, now seems wildly optimistic.
Back then, di Montezemolo insisted the financial crisis held no concerns for Ferrari because a reduction in sales would allow it to quickly respond to markets that might have otherwise waited years for cars.
"Of course the economic problems are being considered," di Montezemolo said in October. "It depends how long this crisis goes on; if this is close to the end or not, because we will see a different world out the other side.
"It will be a world more close to industry and real numbers and products, and not close to speculation.
"I hope that when it finishes there will be more feet on the ground in the financial world," he added.
Insiders have confirmed that sales of the V12-powered 612 Scaglietti and 599 Fiorano have effectively stalled, and Ferrari has moved both models into a special customisation programme to mask the seriousness of the problem.
Even worse, sales of its smaller, V8-powered F430 - the core of its volume and profit, and due to be replaced late in 2009 - plummeted after the official unveiling of Ferrari's new California in October.
But a Ferrari spokesman has denied the company has been adversely affected by the credit crunch, insisting that the extended break was merely Ferrari being generous to its employees, even if all contracts were under review. "We are going to have a meeting with the trade unions this week and we had a meeting with the union last week," Ferrari's spokesman said. "We don't know if there is a figure decided, but we are certainly not taking people on board unless they are crucial.
"What's being talked about is not renewing the people on one-year contracts, which would be about 300 people, and closely examining the consultancies and advisers and that kind of spending.
"We are just being careful. Nobody knows the future any more and even having a waiting list like ours doesn't guarantee anything for your future."
Insisting the Christmas break (from December 19th to January 7th) was a fluke of dates, he explained: "The two weekends have come at the right moment. If we needed to stop production we could have taken the entire week off, instead of coming back on the Thursday."
And, while sources insisted F430 stockpiles were growing and V12 production was at a virtual standstill, Ferrari's spokesman insisted sales of luxury cars always slowed in the last months of the year.
"The only region where there are stocks is the UK," Ferrari's spokesman admitted. "It's the market where we have some problems. In the US, nothing much has changed for us, apart from a slight braking of sales."
"For sure, the F430 Spider is not doing very well, because of winter and the California, so there are stocks in some places."
Besides the development costs of the California, with its folding metal roof and direct fuel injection, Ferrari has spent the past decade extensively redeveloping its factory site, including the recently-opened production facility for the California and the Mensa canteen for its employees.
And F1? Honda might have pulled out of Formula One, but don't expect Ferrari to use the credit crisis as an excuse to follow suit.
Inside Ferrari, the feeling is that the Japanese company may have used the crisis as an excuse to walk away from an underperforming branch of its business, but that's not an accusation that can be levelled at Ferrari.
One of its drivers, Philipe Massa, missed taking this year's championship by about 400 metres, while the team has won back-to-back constructor's titles and has won more championships and races this century than any other team.
Far from cutting back, Ferrari is believed to still be hiring aerodynamicists to get on top of next season's new aero regulations and its wind tunnel is running 24 hours every day.