[thebimbo]

news zappppppppeeddd

 

[McNab]

Spent the last several days having dreadful 'flu, and this joyful bit of news hasn't exactly helped my recovery.

The whole Fiat empire has been in such a state of flux recently that it's impossible to guess the consequences. The outcome of the put option with GM will be critical, but it doesn't look imminent, so what immediate effects could this have?

The best scenario would be a simple separation of accounting procedures within Ferrari/Maserati, and a continuation of engineering/manufacturing co-operation, but how will new Ferrari shareholders view such a compromise? No doubt with extreme distaste.

At the other end of the scale we have the prospect of Fiat running (ruining?) Maserati, with a disruptive separation from Ferrari input. Also, imagine buying your Maser from a Fiat franchise, and enduring their legendary service.

Or maybe at the end of the day you'll be buying a GM-Maserati? The mind boggles etc etc.

I can't see the point of the exercise. Yes, Maserati have made a loss due to factory upgrading, new model introductions and low volume production, but given a couple of years this could have been reversed, and the Ferrari/Maserati Group could have been floated with confidence.

Thoughts?

 

[04cambio]

Yeah, I can't understand why Ferrari would put all the energy and money into upgrading Maserati and then want to dump it. Of course, it's not going to be profitable after only 5 years. I guess, Ferrari sees the offerrs from future investors that want to cut the dead weight.
I'm interested in how this is going to affect us here in the US. I assume that Fiat will want to continue the plans for the new coupe and spyder along with continuing the Quattroporte. The US is the biggest market for Maserati now, and I can't imagine them leaving. I wonder if they will stay with Ferrari dealerships or move to another dealership to get larger exposure.

Anyone else have any opinions?

 

[thebimbo]

laksdfsf sa;f sl;f s;l df;lk sadfas

 

[HTS]

Of course this all may well not happen!!

 

[thebimbo]

ksfj saklfslaf klasj fkldjfklsj klf

 

[3 Left over crest!]

According to to the FT report here: -

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/1c1d1c90-7fbf-11d9-8ceb-00000e2511c8.html

....Maserati could be sold with Alfa and Maserati sharing Alfa components as opposed to using expensive Ferrari components!

One thing that brought me over to Maserati from Porsche was the v.close link with Ferrari and the sharing and joint manufacture of the 2 marques.

Now if the tie up will be with Alfa, not Ferrari, then I see this as a massive dilution of everything Maserati/Ferrari have built in terms of quality, brand loyalty, brand image professionalism over the past 5 years or so.

I can see the value of my new Gransport dropping even further on the back of this,,,,, if it happens of course.

It will save me money in the long run as my nearest Alfa dealer is nearer to me than the Ferrari dealer :wink:

Stuart

 

[scott]

I can see the value of my new Gransport dropping even further on the back of this,,,,, if it happens of course.

Stuart

Might help the value of the cars that were built under Ferrari ownership. Will be kind of a collectors models with only a few years of these cars built

 

[McNab]

Just to cheer everyone up a bit !

Quote from Atlas F1 News:
"Fiat said Maserati would continue to work closely with Ferrari on engine technology and its commercial network."

Article here:
http://www.atlasf1.com/news/report.php/id/15309/.html

Perhaps Maserati will emerge from all this as a leading brand in it's own right, rather than it's current perception as Ferrari's poor relation. I hope so, and I have a great deal of faith in Luca di Montezemolo's acumen.

 

[thebimbo]

ksj fsklfj lsdk fsdffs

 

[Paddy]

Hi everybody, I am new to this forum - saw it advertised on Italiaspeed.com!

There are two recent articles on Italiaspeed which will be of interest to those of you following this thread:

http://www.italiaspeed.com/2005/cars/maserati/02/spin_off/1602.html

http://www.italiaspeed.com/2005/cars/alfa_romeo/02/alfa_maserati/1502.html

Paddy.

 

[McNab]

Sorry ! Try this one - in left hand column click on "Fiat Moves Maserati from Ferrari Towards Alfa" - same article.


http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=reutersEdge&storyID=2005-02-16T171235Z_01_L16718332_RTRIDST_0_PICKS-AUTOS-EUROPE-DC.XML

 

[maserati of minneapolis]

<deleted on request of maserati>

 

[BusDriver]

My 2 cents...(I posted this on FerrariChat too)


This transaction is mostly an accounting trick.

This will make Ferrari suddenly profitable retroactively. My guess is that, as part of its IPO filing, Ferrari will restate past earnings, now without the Maserati-related R & D expenses. So, it will be a healthy IPO for Ferrari as it will now appear to be *very* profitable the last few years.

The Maserati related R & D expenses will now be assigned to Fiat Auto retroactively and will hardly make a difference to Fiat Auto's massively negative historical earnings.

Keep in mind, that Ferraris and Maseratis use the same paint shop, the same engine shop, and same R & D (engines, F1 gearbox, Skyhook etc). They just have separate assembly lines.

Of course, all this is just my opinion.

- Jon

 

[McNab]

I see that Martin Leach, Maserati CEO, has resigned, and will be leaving the Fiat group.

His loss will be a severe blow to Maserati, but his reasons for leaving are far more significant. People like Martin Leach don't jump ship for nothing, and one must assume that he regards the divorce betwen Maserati and Ferrari as rather more ominous than mere creative accounting.

Perhaps there is some truth in the rumour that Maserati could be sold to another major manufacturer after all.

Very bad news all round.

 

[houghn]

As a new user, hello to all forum members. Have just purchased a Quattroporte and so far delighted with it. Anyway, to business, I've picked up some info on the situation with the return to Fiat. Martin Leach did not jump, he was pushed, along with some other key figures in Fiat. GM has bought itself out of the "put option" to buy Fiat, and other than some unavoidable sharing of sub-products has no further links with Fiat. Fiat will position Maserati as the premium sister brand to Alfa Romeo, rather than as the entry level Ferrari. This may well be a marketing ploy in advance of a return to the US market for Alfa. However, I agree with other posts that the reason for seperating loss making Maserati from profit making Ferrari is to enhance the sale value of Ferrari in a sale or floatation. This last bit is opinion, but the other points are from a respected auto industry journal.

Of course I hope that whatever happens doesn't cause my new car to depreciate more, but to be honest I'm not going to give it another thought as I squeeze the throttle and melt with the sound of that gorgeous V8 on a crisp, sunny February morning.

 

[scott]

Sent an Email to the dealership where I purchased my car asking about any changes, am not worried as it seems warranty not affected but do wonder about her knowledge about Maserati as I don't know about this line "The car will still be produced 100% by Ferrari"

Ciao Scott

My name is Natalia Escallon and after Nick got promoted to GM, I took over for him as Maserati Sales Manager. With Fiat taking over financially, everything stays the same. Your warranty will not be affected at all. The car will still be produced 100% by Ferrari. The only thing it changes is who gets paid at the end of the day. IF you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to email back or call the office at 617.559.0123. It’s good to hear the voice of a happy Maserati customer!!!

Natalia



Natalia Escallon

Sales Manager

Ferrari/Maserati

 

[trice9]

there was a post on rennteam forum. one of the posters there had some interesting comments after he talked with a friend who works at maserati. in sum, his take suggests there shouldn't be any negative impact to maser. see link below

http://www.rennteam.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=79665&an=0&page=0#79665

 

[thebimbo]

<deleted on request of maserati>