Ferrari Fires its Dealers in Europe

MUNICH - August 12, 2008: According to Matthias Karpstein of Automobile News Europe, Ferrari has canceled the contracts of its European dealers effective June 30, 2010, to restructure into a smaller network of so-called A- and B-class outlets.

Josef Smoly, general manager of Ferrari Austria, confirmed that the brand's two authorized dealers in Austria have been canceled but said he was certain they would be renewed.

The brand's German dealers are being hit especially hard, he said.

The contracts of six German dealers won't be renewed, Smoly said, which would cut the current network by about one-third. The network now has 19 authorized dealers with 21 facilities and three additional service operations.

One German dealer said he assumes the current network will be cut in half. "Most of the dealers in this country still don't know whether they will get a contract back," said the dealer, whose contract has been cancelled.

Ferrari justified the cancellations by saying it wanted to improve the information flow between the company and dealers.

"Those reasons are pretexts, and are very theoretical," the dealer said.