Ferrari looking for change

FERRARI just wanted a change of distributor in Singapore.

That was what its chief executive said when asked why the Italian marque had dropped Hong Seh Motors after 25 years.

'I don't think we can say (we had) problems. We were looking for change,' Mr Amedeo Felisa told The Sunday Times on Saturday at the opening of a new showroom in Leng Kee Road.

Ital Auto, set up by hotelier Ong Beng Seng, was named the new distributor in July.

It is a subsidiary of Komoco Holdings, which also distributes Hyundai and Chrysler cars.

Mr Felisa said Ferrari chose Ital Auto from some half a dozen competitors because it 'liked the partnership'.

Ferrari, part of Italy's Fiat Group, has been asking its dealers worldwide to invest more in the brand. In Britain, Inchcape - one of the world's biggest vehicle retailers - gave up Ferrari and its sister brand Maserati in 2007. In the same year, Ferrari became its own importer and distributor in Japan, its largest Asian market.

Last year, Hong Seh sold 45 Ferraris here, down from 52 in 2007. Its archrival, Lamborghini, sold 49 cars in Singapore last year.

Lamborghini overtook Ferrari in 2006. Its dealer is EuroSports Auto, whose showroom is in Teban Gardens.

Ferrari's Leng Kee showroom is a temporary one.

Read the full story in today's edition of The Sunday Times.