Ferrari in the market place and his unknown wide target market

Transcription

1 Ferrari in the market place and his unknown wide target market Miguel Coca

2 Ferrari S.p.A. is a sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929 as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured racecars before moving into production of street legal vehicles in 1947 as Ferrari S.p.A.. Throughout its history, the company has been noted for its continued participation in racing, especially in Formula One, where it has enjoyed great success. Enzo Ferrari never intended to produce road cars when he formed Scuderia Ferrari in 1929 as a sponsor for amateur drivers headquartered in Modena. Racing: Since the company's beginnings, Ferrari has been involved in motorsport, competing in a range of categories including Formula One and sports car racing through its Scuderia Ferrari sporting division as well as supplying cars and engines to other teams and for one make series. The 1940 AAC 815 was the first racing car to be designed by Enzo Ferrari, although it was not badged as a Ferrari model.

3 Therefore we can say that since his begginings Ferrari s target market has been the racing industry. However even before 1947, that Enzo Ferrar moved into production of street legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. the company has been trying to extend their target market and has been very successful since then. Their first next target, after manufacturing racecars to compete as Scuderia Ferrari, has been building racecars for other teams: Racecars for other teams Throughout its history, Ferrari has supplied racing cars to other entrants, aside from its own works Scuderia Ferrari team. Ferrari supplied cars complete with V8 engines for the A1 Grand Prix series, from the season. The car was designed by Rory Byrne and is styled to resemble the 2004 Ferrari Formula one car. The 599 GTB Fiorano and F430 GT are used in GT racing series. The Ferrari Challenge is a one make racing series for the Ferrari F430. Private owned race cars: There is another type of product that Ferrari has been placing in the marketplace for another kind of target market. This consists in a high performance racecar, not road legal, but at the same time not homologated for competition. So who is going to want to by this car? Those who can afford to buy a better car than those intended to be road legal, the best high performance racecar that a person not qualified for competition racing, private owners, can drive. As there are not legal for public road use, they can only be used in special track events organized by Ferrari S.p.A. The

4 Ferrari FXX is manufactured for this. It is based on the street legal Enzo and designed as a racecar although driven by private owners. Ferrari is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the cars, and they are only driven on specially organized "track days" because, as I said, they are not approved for street use or homologated for competition. High performance road cars: This is, nowadays, the most commonly known market target of the company. It is intended to see high performance cars, close to racecars, but safe enough to be driven on the public roads and highways, by not professional pilots, just private owners. There are exclusive and unique, and off course very expensive. Therefore it is intended to sell to very rich customers who would like to drive the best car on the road. Ferrari understands the importance of personalization among its target market, so the company offers a wide range of options on some of their models, like the famous F430, including 12 colors of leather, an upgraded audio system, custom tailored luggage and even Bluetooth connectivity. Extend even more the target market: Ferrari s target market for high performance road cars has always been very rich people, generally over their 30 s, who would like to own an outstanding top quality high performance car, which will distinguish them from every other driver on the road.

5 However, Ferrari decided to open their market target by manufacturing less expensive but same quality high performance cars. This way they will not only reach very rich clients, but also those who are not so rich to buy the best Ferrari s model, but enough to allow themselves a whim that not every one can afford. By building a car with mass market appeal, has Ferrari endangered the thing that made it special? Maybe, because as I said before, one of Ferrari s most important characteristics is that it is a top exclusive brand that only a few people can buy. If you give a mass market appeal to the brand you are damaging this image by letting the car being more affordable and therefore less exclusive and unique. The company denies this but freely admits that this type of car, like in the new California, is less demanding to drive, easier to get in and out of, roomier and less expensive to run. The first two years of manufacture 5,000 cars in all are already earmarked for individual customers. Doubtless the economic squeeze will cause a few orders to be cancelled, but there will be plenty who don t have to stretch to afford the 143,320 cost of the car. Women as a new target market: Every year Ferrari s target market includes more women. Just one in 20 of Ferrari buyers is female. Though it won t say so, the company also wants to steal customers away from Bentley and Mercedes, which have been selling their respective Continental GTCs and SLs by the bucket load. To judge by the interest the car received at the Paris motor show, Ferrari seems to have hit the mark.

6 Ferrari s designers have forsaken the classic aerodynamic wedge for a less aggressive shape that is decidedly more curvaceously feminine. It is said to be basked in the sunshine like Eva Longoria on a sun lounger. Motorbike target market: Many people don t know, but Ferrari has been also building motorcycles since the 1950 s, as for example the Ferrari 125cc 1953 bike: The newest Ferrari s motorcycle is the Ferrari V4 motorcycle. This is an example of how Ferrari haven t stop to try to grow their target market.

7 Conclusion: Ferrari first started to built racecars and to compete with their own cars in their Scudeia Ferrari team. Then the decided to increase the business by manufacturing cars and engines for other teams. What s next? Why not selling outside the racing industry? Ferrari got into the roads in Since then it has been the number one brand for high performance luxury cars in the road. However, the company didn t sytop there and decided to create even better cars, too fast to be legal on the roads, but still intended for personal ownership, even more expensive that the legal road racecars. On the other side, they decided to manufacture less expensive road cars to extend their target market to those who can afford expensive models but not the best and most expensive. Ferrari has been able to extend so much their target market that women started to be 5% of their customers by the beginning of the 21 st century. The basis on which the target market is segmented is very important and beneficial for the company, as well as these new approaches that the company has adopted. They have been able to make their brand famous all over the world at the same time that their target market is still very localized and unique.