Japan is becoming Ferrari’s next growth market.
Registrations of Fiat SpA’s ultra-luxury brand surged 40 percent to 144 vehicles in Japan last quarter, according to the Japan Automobile Importers Association on Thursday. That is more than twice the pace in the larger US market, while demand slumps in China, at home and across Europe.
The surge in demand for luxury cars adds to signs that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda are succeeding in reviving spending in the country.
“The growth is very promising, and I think we can expect these super luxury brands to introduce more models that they hadn’t introduced to Japan before and to strengthen their dealership networks,” said Yoshiaki Kawano, a Tokyo-based auto analyst at industry researcher IHS Automotive. “The optimism for an economic recovery is spreading.”
To sustain growth, Ferrari opened a new after-service facility in Japan this month, said Herbert Appleroth, head of the company’s operations in the country.
“We are ever more committed to offer a quality of service to cater to the needs of our growing number of Japanese clients in every step of ownership,” Appleroth said.
For the fiscal year ended last month, Ferrari registrations in Japan increased 46 percent to a 12-year high of 558, according to the import group. The company is not alone in seeing a boom as Volkswagen AG’s Lamborghini sold 199 vehicles, the most in at least 14 years, and sales of imported cars worth more than ￥10 million (US$105,000) have risen two straight years, based on the registration data.
“It seems like demand is coming back,” said Michiaki Ishida, a spokesman for the auto importers association. “Some people are reacting to ‘Abenomics,’ so the trend may continue.”
Cornes Motors Ltd, which operates dealerships in Japan that sell cars, including those manufactured by Bentley Motors Ltd and Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC, opened a showroom in Tokyo yesterday that will stock exclusively Maserati SpA vehicles.
Maserati is targeting sales of 650 vehicles in Japan this year, compared with 311 last year, Fabrizio Cazzoli, the company’s country director, said on Friday.
“Every day, there is good news about Japan,” he said at the Cornes dealership. “Japan is the world’s third-biggest car market, and it’s a very important market for us to expand in.”
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
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Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
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