How Do You Explain the Enduring Power of the Ferrari Legend?

Well, what if I were to posit that the explanation lies, in fact, in Enzo Ferrari’s disdain for his customer. After all, Il Commendatore, as Enzo was known, only really sold road cars so he could fund his racing program. In fact, his knack for rubbing his customers up the wrong way was what led to Ferruccio Lamborghini creating what is perhaps Ferrari’s greatest rival over the decades – off the racetrack anyway.

You need only look at Ferrari’s track record compared with any of its rivals throughout history to get a sense of just how revered a marque it really is. After all, Scuderia Ferrari is the only team to have taken part in every season of the Formula 1 championship since its inception in 1950. It was this intense competition on the racetracks around the world that drove innovation and development. It was this single-minded focus and competitive spirit that meant Ferrari had nowhere to hide if it wasn’t at the absolute cutting edge – after all, the finish line doesn’t lie.

Just take a look at the new V12 Ferrari on the cover of this issue – right from the vortex generators under the floor and the rear diffuser to maximize under-floor aerodynamics to the finger followers in the valvetrain and the titanium connecting rods at the bottom end of the engine, each of these technologies were developed by the Scuderia and subsequently transferred to their road cars.

Watch: Ferrari 12Cilindri Walkaround 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyptcX5TN0c

Clearly, this strategy has yielded substantial returns. After all, Ferrari’s market cap is $80 billion. Compare that with the VW Group at $70 billion, GM & Ford at $50 billion, and Porsche at $40 billion. Each of these carmakers have volumes that are orders of magnitude larger, and yet the market values the Ferrari brand far higher.

Consider this equation: VW has to sell 48 cars to match the profit that Ferrari makes from a single car. For GM, it’s 70 vehicles sold to Ferrari’s one. In fact, the only carmaker that comes close is Porsche, with just over 5 cars to Ferrari’s one. But don’t forget, Porsche is no slouch at the racetrack. In fact, the Porsche legend was built by being a giant slayer at racetracks and road races across the globe. In fact, Porsche is the most winningest manufacturer at Le Mans, with 19 wins to Ferrari’s 10.

So, it takes more than Ford’s famous tagline – ‘Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday.’ It’s more like win on Sunday, transfer technology religiously, and build one the most enduring and valuable brands in history. It’s a focus on product development and innovation that creates the most impressive balance sheets – of this, the Prancing Horse is living proof!