12C bigger hit than expected in America
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My favorite bit from the article is:
Sheriff won’t confirm any details, but he does hint the car will feature state-of-the-art aerodynamics. “Our head of vehicle technology was the chief aerodynamicist for the F1 team,” he says. “He was responsible for the car that won the World Championship in 2008. The aero package of our next model has been done by him, and it’s the basis for the styling model. So the proportions are driven by the aerodynamics for performance, and the styling is overlaid on that.”
Sheriff won’t confirm any details, but he does hint the car will feature state-of-the-art aerodynamics. “Our head of vehicle technology was the chief aerodynamicist for the F1 team,” he says. “He was responsible for the car that won the World Championship in 2008. The aero package of our next model has been done by him, and it’s the basis for the styling model. So the proportions are driven by the aerodynamics for performance, and the styling is overlaid on that.”
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No mention of 'shooting brake' in the foreseeable future
.......seems to me a complete denial in the article
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Thats good to hearNo mention of 'shooting brake' in the foreseeable future
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I hope the 40% orders for the US are actual real customers and not dealer smoke and mirrors. As 6E mentioned in another thread he would not put anything past the dealers in that regards. My California based broker is actually telling me to hold off a couple of months as i will be able to get a car at a discount . Anyone have any information with regards to dealers available inventory ??
. Anyone have any information with regards to dealers available inventory ??
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Eventually happens.....R8 sales are down......tons of inventory available. Refresh will not help. DSG part of refresh. nxt gen can't come soon enough. Spyder at local dealer has been there over a year. Metallic 'brown' might have contributedI hope the 40% orders for the US are actual real customers and not dealer smoke and mirrors. As 6E mentioned in another thread he would not put anything past the dealers in that regards. My California based broker is actually telling me to hold off a couple of months as i will be able to get a car at a discount
I agree to a point. But the R8 is not a low volume super car as the 12C is supposed to be.
Having unsold new units available at dealers ( if true) this early into its life is not a good sign. Of course a few people will have dropped out for various reasons and that makes the odd car available but "in stock" cars sitting on showroom floors cannot help the exclusivity of the brand. I dont think i could just walk in to a Ferrari store and buy a brand new 458, but i could be wrong as i have not tried
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Both Ferrari dealerships around here, a new 458 can be had, they're just not advertised. When I went in recently, I was told someone had just that week backed out of an order that had been delivered. From both dealerships. So Ferrari is better at the spin.
Years of practice
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DITTO.......brand recognition is everything. Plus they have been around seems like forever. I've heard about fezzas since I was a kid lambos too esp when CANNONBALL RUN came out. McLaren somehow MUST capture (besides F1 groupies) that if they are to survive in NA market. they can't make up time LOST but they can make the BEST product available......look at what APPLE did with the mobile phoneYears of practice
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IMO McLaren is doing amazingly well. They have gone from nowhere to contending for the Best Exotic Car moniker in a very short period of time. The more 12C's that are on the road driven by ecstatic owners, the more McLaren buzz will build.DITTO.......brand recognition is everything. Plus they have been around seems like forever. I've heard about fezzas since I was a kid lambos too esp when CANNONBALL RUN came out. McLaren somehow MUST capture (besides F1 groupies) that if they are to survive in NA market. they can't make up time LOST but they can make the BEST product available......look at what APPLE did with the mobile phone
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You are right to a point. I have no doubt that McLaren can build a better car than Ferrari or VW (Lamborghini), but i dont think they have come from nowhere, the F1 is still regarded by most people as the ultimate car, and I would take my SLR over any of the Ferrari's i have ever owned and it is certainly one of the reasons i follow McLaren.
I worry that Mclaren are falling into the trap that Mercedes did with the SLR, i bought my coupe with less than a thousand miles on it for half the original sticker price, and it was under than 18 months old.
Not a great investment for the first owner.I dont want to order a 12C now, if i can get a nearly new one in a year ( instead of waiting 6 months for a new order ) at half the price. Im not that important or special that i have to be the original owner of anything. Saving a $100k buys a lot of track days, tires and brake pads.
The thing Ferrari has down is the feeling of being exclusive, people want what they cant have, if all of a sudden there are 1000 Mclarens driving around it will not be unique. It maybe the best but not special, which saddens me because it seems to me to be a great platform to explode the brand..I'm still going to get one, but im now just being a bit more carefull.
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When Antony Sheriff was at McLarenSF in December, he stated the following:
max 1500 12C's per year to keep the residuals high
700 12C's this year to US to reduce the wait time to under 12 months
max 4000 cars/year when they are producing 4 different models
Ferrari has been producing 6000-6500 cars/year and currently has 4 different models: California, 458, 599, FF.
So if there are 1000 McLarens driving around it will still be more rare than Ferrari. Not nearly as rare as it is now - my dealer has sold 25 and I have only had one chance encounter with another 12C. But we are going to have to get used to seeing more 12C's on the road if McLaren is going to be a successful manufacturer. The key to keeping residuals high will be for McLaren to create enough demand so that >1000 people want to own one of those 1000 McLarens.
I had read that, and while it is a good point, if dealers currently have unsold units then the wait time is already under 12 months. What Ferrari have always been very good at is making fewer cars than there is demand for.
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It has been recently brought to my attention that they actually do nothing of the sort. It is rather that dealers are not allowed to advertise inventory. i.e. they may have 6 cars, but can only show 2 as "for sale", for a predetermined length of time following launch. Market manipulation, but it definitely helps residuals.
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There are actually quite a lot of Californias warehoused in Italy at the moment.
And by the way, Ferrari SF "gave" a friend of mine a new California to drive for 6 months while the one he wants is built. And, they tried very hard to sell that same car to another friend of mine, who decided that his SL65 was a better car.
And by the way, Ferrari SF "gave" a friend of mine a new California to drive for 6 months while the one he wants is built. And, they tried very hard to sell that same car to another friend of mine, who decided that his SL65 was a better car.
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6th model will b shooting brake........5yrs down the road sounds like medium term to meYes, but what is his definition of "medium term"??
Even Lambo coming out with an SUV now....
if BIG MONEY wants it.......it will be made!
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He was right !!!
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