Welcome back to the latest episode of The Future of Automotive on CBT News, where we put recent automotive and mobility news into the context of the broader themes impacting the industry.
I’m Steve Greenfield from Automotive Ventures, and I’m glad that you could join us this week.
News this week that Ferrari is preparing to crack down on “strange” bling requests from super-rich customers.
The luxury car manufacturer is drawing up plans to potentially prevent drivers from selecting garish colour schemes, as bosses fear they have the potential to damage the brand.
Whereas a few decades ago almost all new Ferraris came in the company’s signature red – known as rosso corsa – only about 40% do so today.
However, one color that Ferrari still refuses to apply is pink.
The issue is not only one of safeguarding the Italian firm’s image and heritage, but also of protecting the value of its cars when owners come to trade them in, often for a new Ferrari.
In many ways, you don’t own a Ferrari, Ferrari owns you. That’s because the maker chooses its clients carefully, still working on the principle that, as good as its cars might be, the people who drive them are just as important to the overall image of the brand.
If Ferrari hates something with a passion, it’s flashiness, self-promotion (especially if it’s done with its cars) and tackiness. Ferrari may choose to blacklist buyers who “go too far” in customizing their cars. Some celebrities are believed to have been served a lifetime “ban” for either or all these reasons; others got denied for other reasons.
So let’s talk about the most high-profile stars to have gotten banned by Ferrari.
In 2014, Canadian DJ Deadmau5 received a cease-and-desist letter from Ferrari after posting pictures of a 458 called Purrari that featured a colorful cat-themed wrap and prancing cat emblems.
Other celebrities who are reportedly on Ferrari’s blacklist include Nicolas Cage and Floyd Mayweather Jr., the former because of his financial woes and the latter for his inability to hold on to his cars for longer than a few months (and for only buying them to show off).
Reality stars Kim Kardashian and Blac Chyna are supposedly there, too. Kim for receiving a Ferrari as a 2011 wedding gift from a known financial fraudster on the run, and Chyna for painting a Ferrari Barbie pink and putting red wheels on another.
Justin Bieber was banned because he was somehow able to “lose” his blue Ferrari 458 Italia after a night out on the town, and it took one of his assistants 3 full weeks to locate it. The media attention was not appreciated by Ferrari.
Similarly, 50 Cent drew Ferrari’s ire for going on an Instagram rant against the carmaker because his 488 wouldn’t start on account of a dead battery. The rapper called the car an “f***ing lemon,” another PR stunt that the folks at Ferrari didn’t appreciate.
Having said all of this, Ferrari is reluctant to clamp down too severely, given that “personalization” produced a fifth of overall auto revenues last year, helping it to boost profits by 21% even though the number of cars Ferrari sold was almost flat.
Ah the lives of the rich and famous. I guess when you have all the money in the world, the only way to stand out is to have a pink Ferrari.
So, with that, let’s transition to Our Companies to Watch.
Every week we highlight interesting companies in the automotive technology space to keep an eye on. If you read my weekly Intel Report, we showcase a company to watch, and take the opportunity here on this segment each week to share that company with you.
Today, our new company to watch is LoadX AI.
LoadX revolutionizes cargo dispatching with AI-powered efficiency.
Loadex AI finds and books the best loads for your fleet by making calls, sending emails, and negotiating top rates automatically.
The results are 15% higher rate loads, 80% cost savings, and 25% higher broker satisfaction.
If you’d like to learn more about LoadX you can check them out at www.LoadX.ai
So that’s it for this week’s Future of Automotive segment.
If you’re an AutoTech entrepreneur working on a solution that helps car dealerships, we want to hear from you. We are actively investing out of our DealerFund.
Don’t forget to check out my first book, “The Future of Automotive Retail,” and my brand-new book, “The Future of Mobility”, both of which are now available on Amazon.com.
Thanks (as always) for your ongoing support and for tuning into CBT News for this week’s Future of Automotive segment. We’ll see you next week!
