From its indecisiveness on SUVs to its rigid stance on never making a pink car, Ferrari is a perplexing company. But the company is getting ever so slightly closer to the mark in terms of whom it’s openly marketing its different models toward, because it’s at least hinting that it doesn’t believe in cars “for women.” The only problem with that is what it believes a car “for women” actually is.
Ferrari, in other words, seems to currently have a less cringeworthy approach than some others, like when Aston Martin said women “want to feel safe, they want to be protected, [and] they want to be able to see ahead” in their vehicles, as if women are all the same and have the same desires. The company is this close to getting it—a lot closer than that, at least—but not quite there yet.
Enrico Galliera, the chief marketing and commercial officer at Ferrari, told Arabian Business that Ferrari isn’t setting out to make a car for women, since its female customers don’t want a “female Ferrari,” as the entire notion of a car just for women is dumb:
“A female that wants a sports car wants to drive a sports car…The mistake that automotive [companies] do and that we’re trying not to do is design a car for ladies. I design a car that delivers emotion then male and female have exactly the same need,” said the chief marketing & commercial officer at Ferrari NV and senior vice president-sales of Ferrari SpA.
But that’s about where the good stuff ended. Despite Galliera having just talked about vehicles appealing to men and women simultaneously, Arabian Business reports that Ferrari fears making a “feminine model” would push away its all-important male customer base.
That is, of course, because what distinguishes “a car for girls” as being “for girls” is that it’s slow and boring, and no one wants that, you see:
“If you create a female car in the sports car – I’m not talking about a general car, maybe that’s different – but in the sports world if I create a Ferrari which is a little bit less powerful and aggressive then all the males will not buy it. They will not buy a female car. And the females won’t buy it because why should they be discriminated [against]? Why should they have a less powerful car?” Galliera said.
Galliera said female customers are on the rise due to couple activities at Ferrari, which is presumably where rich married people consume wine and cheese while overlooking the Italian coastline or whatever it is that rich people do, and those activities are “reducing the distance between Ferrari and the [female] segment.”
He again said gender didn’t make a difference, but also talked of how women might be too scared to drive a full-out, aggressive Ferrari, because specific gender identities often have a maximum horsepower limit, and how the brand refuses to make a pink car—a colour that’s marketed toward women from birth:
Galliera hinted that female customers are afraid to drive a “very aggressive, very sporty” Ferrari and said the new “more elegant” Roma should reduce their fear, but claimed the new 600 horsepower model is aimed at both men and women.
“What we know and that’s why we came up with the new product, the new Roma, is that there is a barrier to buy in some segment of the population. Again, it doesn’t make a difference, male or female, that they are afraid to drive a Ferrari – maybe because of its image; it’s a very aggressive, very sporty, muscle car.
“So that’s why we did the new Roma, the new car we just introduced which is in terms of performance a pure Ferrari and can be driven by anyone. But the design of the car is less aggressive, more elegant so that it should reduce the fear that some segment of the population has, female and male,” Galliera said.
Again, Ferrari, you’re close—just not close enough. Maybe next time.