No. 708 Beijing West Road, Jing’an District, Shanghai is a place visited by many Ferrari owners, because it hosts Ferrari’s only Tailor-made Centre outside its headquarters in Maranello.
It is also in this office that Matteo Torre (President and CEO of Ferrari Greater China) oversees the company’s operations in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. This is where all decisions are made that steer the future of Ferrari Greater China.
In Matteo Torre’s office, there is a pair of Ferrari Vintage cuff-links. Their importance to him goes without saying, as he has kept them with him throughout his 18-year-career at Ferrari. However, his memories of Ferrari are even more profound.
“In 1992, a 41-year-old man called Li Xiaohua, bought a Ferrari 348 TS for 138.88 thousand dollars.” The historical moment captured in this slightly yellowed photo is of great significance to Ferrari, as that marked the official beginning of Ferrari’s growth in the Chinese market.
Matteo Torre is keenly aware that in the Chinese market Ferrari is still a young guest as it has been here for just 25 years, and what he needs to do is to bring top-quality sports cars to the customers here, “regardless of the results of course we hope to be rewarded for our efforts hear”.
Since its entry into China, Ferrari has kept its promise. Now, Ferrari has introduced numerous models to the Chinese market including the 488 GTB, 488 Spider, California T and GTC4Lusso. In the next one to two months, the first batch of GTCLusso T will be delivered to Chinese customers.
The first half of the year also saw the debut of an over 800 horsepower luxury sports car, the Superfast. “The model has yet to arrive in China, but the number of orders is already very encouraging, about 100 from the Greater China region.”
This year, in particular, Ferrari sales have been strong. During Shanghai Autoshow in April alone, Ferrari booked 118 orders, a historic record. But, the sound market response also created an enviable burden for Matteo Torre.
In the global market, the waiting period for Ferrari models averages between 12 and 18 months. Though most customers have become used to the relatively long waiting period, Matteo Torre was determined to change this and deliver the experience more quickly to Chinese customers. In order to achieve this, Matteo Torre negotiated many times with the Ferrari Headquarters until eventually a deal was reached, one that increased supply to the Chinese market and reduced the waiting time down to 9 months.
“China does differ from other markets worldwide in some areas.” Having worked in the market for nearly three years, Matteo Torre now knows more about what Chinese customers want. “In other markets, over 70% of buyers are second-time customers, who have been patiently persuaded by the strong power of our products’ and their driving experience to wait for an even greater Ferrari. But in China, many buyers come to us for the first time and we want to help them to feel the charm of Ferrari as quickly as possible.”
It’s worth noting that Ferrari owners in the Chinese market average 30-35 years old, about 10 years younger than customers elsewhere.
Even more interesting is the fact that China has a marked lead over other countries in terms of the number of female Ferrari owners. The owners’ gender split for California T is a staggering 7:3 whilst in the rest of the world only 7% of car owners are female. “Many Chinese female car owners also lead interesting lives. They are as brave as, if not braver than their male counterparts and also like to drive super sports cars.”[
detail]