Ferrari’s Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer,Enrico Galliera, says the Italian brand continues to monitor resale activity among its clients and remains wary of the speculative investment behaviour that has grown around limited-production models.
“The industry in the last year attracted a big portion of the speculators,” said Mr Galliera. “Speculators, or people that are buying because there could be an advantage… [are the ones that] never thought about buying, [but] buy because they can make money.”
Mr Galliera acknowledged that Ferrari tracks client behaviour to ensure fairness when allocating new vehicles. However, the era of making money by flipping cars may be a thing of the past.
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“So the market has been filled by speculators who were buying in order to make money. I buy a nice watch. I buy for $10,000, I sell it for $50,000. That’s not normal. It happened [during CCOVID]. So now we are going back to the new normal, which is what we were having before, but no-one is ready to accept it,” he said.
“If you buy a car, you drive for three years, it’s normal that it will depreciate the right amount… generally speaking, this is what is happening and everyone complains [now] because they get used to making money [by reselling]”.
During the same discussion, Mr Galliera also commented on the Australian market, particularly in relation to the possible reduction or gradual phase-out of the controversial Luxury Car Tax (LCT).
“Looks like it can happen,” he said. “So [new Ferraris] are going to be extremely cheaper than today,” he said, adding that while a tax reduction might appear positive at first, it could harm the resale values of existing vehicles.
“Because we all think about potential benefit. Maybe we are wrong, we are crazy, but I’m afraid because the car I’m selling today, they could cost 10, 15, 20 [thousand dollars less]– I don’t know what is going to be – which will kill the residual value of the pre-owned car, which will kill the purchase of someone that bought the car today.”
Mr Galliera said a gradual reduction of the LCT would create uncertainty.
“[It] would be a disaster, because if you need to buy a car, you would wait for the car to cost less,” he said. “So I would prefer to have a big bang and then manage it, [but] whatever would be the decision, we will adapt.”
Ferrari Australia continues to record strong demand relative to its small scale, with Mr Galliera describing this country as “an interesting market” with knowledgeable collectors and “big love for the brand.”
Ferrari Australia sold 246 cars in 2024, up from 215 in 2023.
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