Ferrari (NYSE:RACE) Produces Tier 1 Bespoke Luxury Supercars

Ferrari (NYSE:RACE) Produces Tier 1 Bespoke Luxury Supercars

$RACE

The Ferrari factory in Maranello, Northern Italy, comprises the paint shop, the assembly areas, and the company ristorante.

Ferrari workers go about their business like clockwork, moving on straight avenues lined with plane trees while riding bikes painted rosso corsa aka Ferrari Red, marked with the company’s Prancing Stallion logo.

The Ferrari factory is laid out precisely, as some of the world’s finest architects are behind the buildings’ design.

The wind tunnel was designed by Renzo Piano, creator of the Shard in London.

These aesthetic standards give away something of the factory’s dual role. It is where each of the world-famous supercars is designed and constructed, but it is also built to be customer-friendly

It is the home of the Ferrari “experience”, a process whose value is clear from the marque’s continuing domination of the dream-car buyer’s imagination.

A sample of requests include a customer who wanted their car design to match that of their yacht.

Another required bullet-proof upholstery. Another wanted styling inspired by his favorite pastime: Polo.

This is a service that only 1% of Ferrari customers will use every year.

The average spend is 30% of the value of the car, but a redesign that matches the price tag is not usual. “There is no limit,” says Mr. Bassi.

In trying to grasp the psychology of a person who will part with $340-K for a car and then the same again to redesign it, Mr. Bassi says it is crucial to understand this notion.

“Interaction with the customer is a very rich experience,” he says. “From my point of view, the real reason to buy for the customer is the experience, and not the car. Being part of the Ferrari family, coming here several times to design the car, working with the team.”

The customizing process will usually take about 7 months.

Once the client has decided what to do, the car can begin to take shape on the factory assembly line.

In a vast glass-walled building, the metal skeletons of car chassis are lifted from work-station to work- station, hanging in the air above the workers’ heads.

Each car travels with a clipboard that outlines any special adjustments.

To one side of the factory floor, a team of 40 upholsterers work on the interiors. Materials are all dealt with by hand, working with lasers runs the risk of burning the more delicate fabrics. Employees call this building the “Cathedral”.

In a consumer world ever-more orientated around the notions of the “Experiential” and “Added Value”, the Tier 1 consumers are not immune. Which explains the pristine nature of the Maranello factory.

In Mr. Bassi’s atelier, among sheafs of animal skin and pictures of cars past that inspire idolatry in a certain kind of person, is where new clients are inducted into the Ferrari family.

Stay tuned…

Paul Ebeling

HeffX-LTN

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