Posted on Saturday 23 February 2008
To capitalize on the rapidly growing number of high net worth individuals in Asia Ferrari has announced it will be opening its first fully owned subsidiary this April based in Japan. Despite economic uncertainty around the globe, countries like Japan, China, Russia and India have a growing pool of big spenders with most never having previously owned an exotic supercar.
The decision to move to Japan is also a sign of Ferrari’s gratitude towards the country, which has for long been the number two market for the make after the U.S. “The Japanese market is still going for a long time to represent the largest market in Asia,” Ferrari’s Asian chief Marco Mattiacci told reporters from Thomson Financial. “This is a market that has almost 1.2 million high net worth individuals, one of the highest concentrations of wealth in the world, so there’s plenty of opportunity. The key factor is to keep being exclusive,” Mattiacci explained.
A lack of exclusivity is a worrying concern for Ferrari. Last year the carmaker sold a total of 6,465 vehicles and with the launching of the new subsidiary this year’s level is shaping up to be even higher.