Their View: The desperation to buy the model is sad
A moment of sympathy, please, for HNWIs - High Net Worth Individuals.
The waiting time for a new Ferrari, traditionally a year, has risen to 18 months to two years and even three years in some locations. If you're going to spend $190,000 to $280,000, you'd think you could at least drive it home the same day.
It seems that newly created millionaires in China, Russia and the Mideast now want to cement their status as super-rich with a new Ferrari. A used one, which you can get without a wait, doesn't cut it for them.
The Italian carmaker slowly is raising production from 5,700 cars a year to 6,000, but is wary of diluting the brand's exclusivity. The result is a lot of disappointed HNWIs who are unaccustomed to car dealers saying don't call us, we'll call you - in a couple of years or so.
The result, according to The Wall Street Journal, is a “gray market” in Ferraris where car buyers get on the waiting list, sometimes under several names, and then once they have possession, flipping the car for a large premium to a desperate rich person.
Just goes to show you that the life of a new Chinese or Russian millionaire now is all leather seats, six-speed transmissions and 612 horsepower. Very sad.
- Dale Mc Featters,
Scripps Howard News Service
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