Ferrari's financial problems

[Valve Bounce]

This mornings financial news reported that FIAT are losing 1 billion euros a quarter, and that a buyout by GM is on the cards although both parties strenuously deny this. The report went on that both Ferrari and the other Fiat owned car maker are also affected.
The amount of money FIAT are pouring into Ferrari is substantial and it is possible that when Marlboro pulls out of F1, Ferrari would find their unlimited supply of cash will be curtailed - unless of course if GM hierachy becomes interested in the F1 antics.
Of course the name of Ferrari will always be there, but instead of FIAT on the nose of the cars, could we possibly see Chevrolet? OH NO!! GOD forbid.:confused:
Pontiac then maybe, or Buick or Oldsmobile? NO?? How about Cadillac? Yeah, Cadillac Ferrari - has a nice ring to it.
Maybe they will replace the TOAD with Bobby, now that's a good idea.

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[Glen]

The world gets smaller every day - back in the day it was just as unthinkable that Ferrari would be owned by anyone at all. I don't think it makes a great deal of difference these days - car manufacturers are huge international concerns. Jaguar is nothing more than a convenient brand name slapped on a Ford - they could have called it Aston Martin, or any other brand in their portfolio... it's still Ford. Ditto Cosworth - once a proud name made-up by two individual guys knocking out innovative race engines, now marketing dressing.

[Champ69]

The Ferrari race team is not owned by FIAT and is not included in the sale to GM as reported by grandprix.com some time ago. (I will try to find the article tonight)

Financially Ferrari are not in any danger as they will always have sponsor lining up to pour cash into the team.

[Glen]

Ah. Doh.

[Valve Bounce]

Many other teams felt that way too when they were riding the crest of the wave. Who would have thought these names would disappear from F1: Cooper, Lotus, BRM, Brabham, Tyrrel, to name just 5. When the FIAT and Marlboro money runs out, no doubt there would be other sources like CANDY, Olivetti or Martini, but I can see a difficulty in maintaining the current rate.

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[kristof14]

it was a clever move by ferrari to get Vodafone on board! i guess theyll be taking over as main sponsor whne Marlboro pull out?

[Lee Janotta]

GM<->Fiat... Gah! Makes my skin crawl!

They're gonna bankrupt themselves if they keep buying every failing brand on the market.

[freud]

what?? Fiat.. bankrupt??? So all the titles by Ferrari & TGF and with them being the benchmark f1 cars didnt help Fiat??? What a shame...

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Champ69
The Ferrari race team is not owned by FIAT

i thought it was, and that it can be called Ferrari (as opposed to FIAT) providing Ferrari cars are used in some sort of racing in a major series at all times. (i.e...if all Ferraris used by manufacturers were pulled out, then the name could not be used again, and this includes F1 of course!)

[Valve Bounce]

The point I am trying to make is that FIAT have been pouring zillions into Ferrari. Vodafone has a reputation about half a notch above One Tel, and if that is their main source of income for the future, they are in trouble already. The FIAT millions will dry up soon, that's for sure.
Look at Lotus. At one stage they were the most prolific winner in F1, then what happened?

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[Mr V]

if vodafone are the future sponsers of Ferrari, then Ferrari should be worried, given that Vodafone lost £13 billion last year, the biggest loss in British history!

(i didn't know Schumachers wage demands were that big!!! )

[freud]

oh good Lord.... sanity prevails... I was amazed how can Ferrari lose pound 13 billion...

[Jukebox]

Although Fiat owns Ferrari, they are being ran by separate entities financially and decision making wise. Meaning that it's only Fiat that's in trouble.

[Valve Bounce]

Holy mackeral, I knew Vodafone was in fanancial trouble, but I didn't know the were that far down. "Hello One Tel - Vodafone calling!!". I guess we can see GM coming to Ferrari's rescue sooner rather than later.

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[Mr V]

Originally posted by freud
oh good Lord.... sanity prevails... I was amazed how can Ferrari lose pound 13 billion...

sorry about that Freud, been up since 3am, wasn't until about 5 mins after posting that i realised i'd put Ferrari in instead of Vodafone!

[kmchow]

According to the Apr/02 issue of EuroBusiness, officially, Fiat only contributes $17M US to the Ferrari operation in terms of direct cash, 8M US in trade support. Ferrari Spa contributes a whopping 60M US in direct cash. Unofficially, the number could very well be higher?

[Red]

Actually I believe that Ferrari reported profit. Anyway Ferrari and Maserati are not included in Fiat-GM deal even though Fiat is the major shareholder.

PS: I believe that Vodafone does not sponsor Ferrari. Marlboro does. They own lots of ad space on the car and they can sell it to other entities.

[Stephen Green]

No one has mentioned the Ferrari floatation yet. When that happens Fiat will at least get some cash back and then Ferrari will have to stand on it's own two feet.

[Dickie Thrust]

I think what Ferrari cost FIAT is a drip in the ocean compared to what they turnover and lose. I think a couple of years of this kind of loss will just off-set past and future profits. What they spend is probabaly justified by what they gat back from Ferrari.

Also FIAT are not the only car manufacturer losing massive money. Ford are losing 1 million dollars a day and have been for the last two years and will continue to do so for another 12 months. Motor manufacturers plan decades in advance so losses like this are not really a worry for them. I know Mercedes strategy goes over 50 years in advance.

[calais]

Originally posted by Champ69
The Ferrari race team is not owned by FIAT and is not included in the sale to GM as reported by grandprix.com some time ago. (I will try to find the article tonight)

Financially Ferrari are not in any danger as they will always have sponsor lining up to pour cash into the team.

check your facts first.
ferrari F1 ARE owned by fiat, piero ferrari and a consortium of banks, with fiat owning around 85%.

[Gt_R]

Actually, the FIAT Group have a majority stake in Ferrari and its subsidaries. FIAT Auto division is another subsidary of FIAT Group...somewhere along that line.

FIAT Auto and some other subsidaries (ie it's truck division) in FIAT Group are making huge losses, thus having an impact on the turnover and financial situation of its parent company. Ferrari on the other hand had seen profits made, and Maserati is set to do well soon too.

[f1manoz]

Ferrari EVER suffering financial problems in the next hundred years???

Nah, there will always be someone there to sponsor them.

[Spritle]

Last year Ferrari's Group Sales were up 17% and Operating Profits up 36%, not too shabby. Hopefully this link will take you to an article from Daily F1 from May 15:

http://www.dailyf1.com/en/news/news.php?id=1181

As far as the tobacco ban, (what a load of ****), hopefully all of motorsport will be able to benefit from the divestitures that tobacco companies have made into 'politically correct" businesses. I don't know if the ban includes ALL tobacco company owned businesses or just the butt business.

For example, Phillip Morrris owns Kraft Foods, Nabisco, and Oscar Meyer among others. That's alot of money that may be able to be used for sponsorships without getting somebody upset over the health risks of Oreo cookies or Velveeta cheese. Who knows, maybe we will have an F1 version of a Oscar Meyer Weinermobile?

[calais]

but would philip morris want to spend $100 million per year advertising kraft vegemite????? or nabisco biscuits????
the only reason the baccy companies spend this sort of money on F1 is that this is one of the only avenues where they can freely advertise ciggies.

[Champ69]

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

Ferrari is owned by the Agnelli Family, which is also the owner of Fiat. Ferrari is usually linked to Fiat but is in fact a different company. The ultimate control of the company rests with Gianni Agnelli, the 80-year-old patriarch of the family, who is the grandson of the founder of the Fiat car company. Agnelli, known in Italy as "the Avvocato", is one of the world's leading industrialists and chairman of Fiat between 1966 and 1996. Although he has now retired Agnelli continues to be closely involved in Ferrari's F1 program, having long been a supporter of Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo.

The Agnelli's acquired 50% of Ferrari in 1968 with an agreement that when Enzo Ferrari died another 40% of the firm would come under the control of the Agnellis. The remaining 10% are held by the Ferrari family. Ferrari died in 1988 and the shareholding in Ferrari has remained the same except that in 1996 three percent of the Agnelli shares were sold to a consortium of banks. The following year Ferrari acquired the Maserati company and is in the process of rebuilding as Ferrari does not wish to expand too much and ruin the exclusive image of being a Ferrari owner.

Facts checked. Taken from grandprix.com go there and have a read. good site factual information.

As you can see Ferrari is a seperate company to Fiat and thus is not being sold to GM.

calais. your figures do look nice.