Ferrari & Hamilton is an easy marketing win but something is amiss
Doug Demuro raises alarm bells about the road car side of the business and a feeling of reduced 'lustre' surrounding the brand.
While the world revels in Lewis Hamilton’s grand arrival at Ferrari, there are murmurs from elsewhere that should be raising concerns within Maranello.
There is plenty of talk about Ferrari’s masterful marketing and Hamilton’s star power, but here’s the thing - he is one of the greatest drivers of all time, racing for the most iconic car brand in the world, in the ‘pinnacle’ of motorsport. You would have to be a complete limone to fumble that from a marketing perspective. Personally, I think he should have debuted in a vintage V12 F1 Ferrari from 1989, that would have blown people’s minds, but in reality, the ‘marketing’ was already done when he clinched his seventh title. Ferrari is Ferrari, and Formula 1 is Formula 1. The suit was a nice touch, though.
The truth is, there are few real marketing lessons to take from this. The groundwork was laid over decades of competition by F1, Ferrari, and Hamilton. The only way to replicate it would be to create a motorsport so compelling that it becomes the most sought-after racing series in the world. Good luck with that.
Yet, while Hamilton’s move has dominated the headlines, it has also overshadowed, some might say ‘distracted from’, a growing questioning of Ferrari’s road car strategy. I am not in the market for a Ferrari. I am not even in the market for a 1996 Fiat Cinquecento. But Ferrari’s desirability has always extended beyond the ownership experience - it has been as much about cultural significance as it has about the cars themselves.
And yet, something feels off. The road cars no longer seem to carry the same ‘specialness’ they once had. Ferrari is not alone here, many premium brands are grappling with a similar dilemma. The McLaren W1, for example, seemed to vanish from public consciousness as swiftly as Ferrari’s latest model, the name of which I cannot even recall. That alone speaks volumes. I do remember, however, that it is a V6 hybrid that barely makes a sound worth mentioning. Yuck!
One possible explanation is that Ferrari is simply producing more cars than before. More supply does not usually equate to greater demand. Desirability naturally declines when something becomes more commonplace, yet Ferrari was long thought to be immune to that effect. Now, perhaps, the cracks are starting to show.
Of course, I am just an observer of motorsport, my opinion on Ferrari does not carry much weight. But Doug DeMuro, a well-known car YouTuber and someone clearly ‘in the know,’ has sounded the alarm. Speaking on his This Car podcast about Ferrari’s diminishing lustre, he noted that “the 12 Cilindri isn’t selling well.” That, in itself, should be a major shock. If Ferrari cannot move a V12, something is seriously wrong.
He went on:
“There are threads all over Ferrari Chat about guys being like, ‘I bought one Ferrari and they offered me a 12 Cilindri.’ That's a 12 Cilindri problem … 12 Cilindri Problem Number Two is (there is) like a 10-page thread on Ferrari Chat right now about people turning down their 12 Cilindri allocations because prices are so high, options are so high and because (of that) they keep getting destroyed on depreciation. One guy calculated how much money he's had to lose on BS cars in order to get the good cars, and he's like barely breaking even. There's a 22-page thread on Ferrari Chat about SF90 depreciation.
“This is a dangerous game for Ferrari to play. I know I've been worried about this day for a long time. If there comes a day where there are Ferraris sitting on dealer lots unsold… the brand changes.”
Ferrari’s stock remains strong, so there is no immediate cause for panic. But this is not about financials - it is about mystique. Ferrari was once unattainable, exclusive, rare. Can we still say that today? Probably not. I won’t look twice if one drives by, unless it’s an F40 and that means anything could happen.
Maranello is filled with people far smarter than I am, people who have access to every statistic and market trend imaginable. Hamilton’s unveiling was a resounding success, but now the real test begins - his performance on track. Whether good or bad, the bigger question remains: does Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari make its road cars more desirable? I am not so sure it does.
The race team has regained an air of ‘otherworldliness,’ but when it comes to the cars themselves? Perhaps, not so much.
Ferrari should follow the world's trend and begin mass production of its own electric vehicles (EVs). This strategy can help sustain the “12 cilindri”.