PRESS RELEASE: 1997 PRODUCTION FIGURES

In total the number of cars delivered to customers in 1997 was 3,581, an 8.1 per cent increase over 1996. Thanks to this performance, for the first time, Ferrari achieved 1,000 billion Liras of turnover. These results are due to different factors: the completion of a total re-organization of the production processes and sales/service international network, the high level of competitiveness reached by Formula 1, the large commercial success of 550 maranello during its first year and - in the second part of the year - the extraordinary popularity of 355F1 with F1-type gearbox, introduced for the first time on a road car. The 355F1 accounts for 60 per cent of orders for 8-cylinders, confirming the customers' appreciation of racing technological innovations transferred on series-produced cars.

The sales for 1997, for 12 and 8-cylinder engines, are split as follows: 1,211 for 12-cylinder cars (550 maranello, 456 and F50), equal to 34 per cent, and 2,370 for 8-cylinder cars (F355 in the different models), equal to 66 per cent. The most important international market is the US one that, with 805 cars, represents 22.5 per cent on the total; then come Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Japan. On the other hand, this positive balance won't change Ferrari production strategy, where 3,500 cars per year is still the optimum target for the whole organization. It is thus true that only with these quantities the product top quality can be continuously checked and guaranteed, keeping as the sole priority exclusiveness and customers' requirements.The success of this policy is comfirmed also from the positive results of the "Carrozzeria Scaglietti" tailor-made programme. The beginning of the 1998 saw a strong positive demand for Ferrari models with particularly emphasis on the 355F1, the model with the Formula 1 gearbox type, and on the 550 maranello. The new 456M will be another opportunity to increase customers appeal.

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