Ferrari website speaks a new language: Chinese

All who peddle premium goods are tripping over themselves in luring new Chinese money, from Louis Vuitton to Ferrari. While LV opened two stores in Shanghai in a day last week, Maranello announced that its official ferrari.com website now speaks Chinese. It was in conjunction with the World Expo opening in Shanghai.

Mandarin is only the fourth language available on the site, after Italian, English and Japanese. This opens up live news updates from Maranello, “Prancing Horse emotions”, activities and products to Chinese readers. They’ll discover interactive areas, car information, F1 news and the Ferrari Store. There’s also a virtual tour of the famous company via video clips and images.

This is further proof of the importance of China to Ferrari, coming straight after the world premiere of the 599 GTO at the Beijing Auto Show. The Prancing Horse brand will also show its Hybrid concept, the Hy-Kers, at the Expo.

Ferrari sold its first car in China in 1993 but only had a commercial presence there since 2004. Last year, they sold over 200 cars in China from 10 dealerships covering Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Nanjing, Dalian and Qingdao. The company also organises Corso Pilota Ferrari driving courses for its Chinese customers, a must I would say.