Celebrating Ferrari's past and envisioning its future

Ferrari is a brand that is ubiquitous with fast, exotic, beautiful and desirable sports cars. The brand has a highly-celebrated and accolade-filled 70 year history, and has become the preeminent name in the industry when it comes to brand desirability and exclusivity. On the heels of the brand's recent 70^th anniversary celebration here in Singapore, we took some time to speak to Mr. Dieter Knechtel, Chief Executive Officer Ferrari Far East and Middle East Hub, to talk about the brand's past, as well as to envision its future.

Past - Genesis, Identity and Quality

To understand the Ferrari brand, it's imperative to explore its very genesis. The first decades of Ferrari were marked by the great personality of Enzo Ferrari himself. As Dieter explains, the father of the company brought all his knowledge, passion and racing experience into Ferrari. Being the pinnacle of his career, he developed his own brand, a way of fulfilling his own dream of producing his own cars, deemed to be the best and fastest cars on the track.

The very first Ferrari-badged car, the 125 Sport, carried all the identifying hallmarks of the Ferrari brand - distinctive and head-turning aesthetics, a 12-cylinder Naturally Aspirated (NA) engine, a car developed for both the road and the track. It was creative, innovative and something unexpected.

Till today, Enzo Ferrari is like a myth, a person who has personally branded Ferrari as well as one could. "He was a one-of-a-kind personality and talent, a very gifted automobile engineer and visionary," says Dieter.  And it's apparent that his fierce spirit lingers till today. Enzo Ferrari’s passion and unceasing pursuit of excellence form the foundations and informs the success of Ferrari. As Dieter tells us, the concept and basis of what Ferrari does today hasn't fundamentally changed much over 70 years.  

However, there are some aspects of the brand's identity that may have origins that would surprise you. For example, the colour red may be intrinsically linked to the Ferrari brand, but in fact, this choice of colour wasn't made by Enzo Ferrari initially. Instead, it was the colour designated for all Italian race cars. And, the famous prancing horse logo came from a World War II pilot, Francesco Baracca, who was tragically shot down during battle. Enzo Ferrari, at the urging of Baracca's mother, adopted the prancing horse logo, atop a deep yellow shield (yellow being the colour of Modena).  

As Ferrari celebrates its 70^th anniversary, it's no coincidence that the LaFerrari Aperta has been chosen as the celebration car. According to Dieter, this car contains all this elements of the essential Ferrari DNA, in terms of colour, design and outstanding product composition. "It is everything about Ferrari you can find in the car," he says. "It's at the top end of what one would expect from a road-going car, including all kinds of technology derived from Formula One, and I think in terms of design it's one of a kind. We find a lot of the spirit of Ferrari in this car, and the lineage is clear to see."

Of course, owning a Ferrari is much more than just owning a sports car. According to Mr. Dieter, customers are buying into a brand, an investment and a lifestyle. "Traditionally a Ferrari customer is someone who enjoys life, who has achieved a lot in life and want to reward himself," he says. "I believe everyone understands that we what we do is something consistent over time. This gives them peace of mind, knowing they have made a reasonable investment. Every single Ferrari is a unique piece that retains its value over time. Buying a Ferrari is a big decision and an important moment for people, and it's our responsibility to keep them happy for many years." 

But can potential customers have everything they want? Well, not always. Take for example the car's colour. According to Dieter, there are certainly colours that aren't part of the standard program and not offered in the car configuration (there is a separate tailor-made program that allows a joint approach between Ferrari and the customer to find suitable combinations of equipment and colours). "We have very strong recommendations regarding colour choices. At the end of the day, we are also a little bit responsible for how the cars look like. We honour the individual taste of every customer, but at the same time a Ferrari should also look like a Ferrari on the street," Dieter adds.

Ultimately, it's this sense of quality, passion and kinship that brings Ferrari owners together. "There's a feeling of belonging and community. In Singapore, once you drop an idea, people are enthusiastic about it," says Dieter. "A Ferrari is something to have that you look at with pride and pleasure."
Future - Change, Spirit and Essence

But what does the future hold for this haloed brand? Change and uncertainty, it seems. When it comes to Ferrari customers, the brand is facing an inevitable evolution - as its present clientele grows older, the brand has to reach out to the generation of the future, in terms of products and activities.

In this regard, the Gran Tourer (GT) model range (with the California being a prominent example) has been an unexpected global success. "It enabled us to reach out to younger crowds and first-time buyers. That needs to be a consistent pillar of our strategy, because younger people want to use the car everyday or in different situations in life," says Dieter. "In the future, based on the success that we have measured, the development of GT models is going to be very important for Ferrari. We need to find the right balance, and to speak the language of younger people and understand the tools they use."

Inevitably, the topic of a Ferrari Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) comes up. Dieter is clear on this matter - Ferrari won't build an SUV, at least not in the traditional sense. "It's not fitting with our DNA, and our expectations when it comes to weight, performance and spirit," he says. Four-door models are certainly out of the question. What we will probably see is a further development along the conceptual lines of the GTC4Lusso (the model closest in concept to an SUV), to fulfill the expectations of a particular clientele.  

When it comes to powertrain options, Dieter mentions that the NA engine has natural limits, which Ferrari has managed to out-perform already. Turbocharging is an inevitable means of further boosting performance, something Ferrari wants to do from one model to the next. But given the brand's heritage, and to be true to the essence of Ferrari, NA engines won't fall by the wayside, and will continue to be offered by Ferrari. Moving forward, the next step is to further explore hybrid technology. According to Dieter, "We need to comply with our philosophy that we want to boost performance further. Thus, we are looking at hybrid technology and I think that is something that will be prominent across the Ferrari range in the future." However, a full-electric Ferrari won't happen. "It's just not in our DNA, it's not what we believe in at Ferrari," says Dieter. It's for this same reason that we won't be seeing Ferrari participating in the Formula E series.

The industry is facing a crucial transformative stage right now - with the advent of autonomous technology, cities looking to restrict conventional engines, and manufacturers challenging our very notion of what a 'car' is. Ferrari will watch this closely, but as Dieter highlights, the brand isn't a mass manufacturer and thus has more leeway to avoid simply following industry trends. "We still have time to develop our strategy for the future. We need to see how quickly things change, and how it impacts Ferrari, but I can promise you that given our experience and capability in terms of technological development I am very confident that we will always be at the pinnacle of what technology can deliver."

What will the Ferrari of the future look like? It's hard to say, and Dieter admits as much. However, what we can expect is a stubbornly Ferrari-like approach to the different customer and market expectations and necessities. Just as it has over the past 70 years, the brand will continue to seek out its edge that makes the difference, and to deliver something different than what the market is offering, in terms of both design and technology.

While change is inevitable, keeping the brand's essence and spirit is of key importance. This much Ferrari is resolutely certain about. After 70 years, while the cars may have changed, the spirit and philosophy behind them remain very much the same. With the same dedication that Enzo Ferrari had in chasing excellence and setting himself apart from the competition, Ferrari will forge ahead into the future - fully aware of the challenges and unknowns that lay ahead, but confident that it will continue to delight customers with products that deliver breathtaking design, astounding performance, dynamic driving pleasure, and the sensation of quality, exclusivity and uniqueness.