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Ferrari completes 25,000km China tour

Ferrari has completed its epic 25,000 km tour China, taking two Ferrari 612 Scagliettis to places that had often never seen a car, let alone a thoroughbred Italian 320 kmh 5.7 litre 397 kW V12 super car.

A total of 51 journalists drove (ItalianCar wasn't invited we're sorry to say) the Ferraris across deserts, through mountain ranges, down roads built only to accommodate trucks and four wheel drive cars and into the record books when, at more than 5200 metres in altitude they climbed to the highest ever hight for a two wheel drive car. They covered just over 25,000 km, of which 1600 km was classed officially as semi-passable dirt tracks, during 45 days on the road, yet the only problems were two bent wheel rims. During the entire trip they didn't even require an oil change, providing a remarkable testimony to the strength, durability and design qualities of a car that is designed for autostradas, autobahns and freeways, not single lane mud tracks over the Himalayas!

Starting in Shanghai, the expedition first headed north, then east towards Manchuria, and finally south-west to Beijing to drive on along the Great Wall to Lanzhou.

After crossing Tibet to Lhasa, the two Scagliettis turned west through the Gobi desert and reached Kashi, the ancient town on the Silk Way described by another epic Italian traveler, Marco Polo, and the furthest place from the sea anywhere on earth. Driving further across the desert, they reached Urumqi and then down to the tropical region to Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton. Here the route turned to the most western and modern part of China and the conclusion on Saturday 29 October in Shanghai.

To mark the end of the remarkable journey through China, the Oriental Pearl Tower, the 468 metre high tower that dominates the Shanghai skyline, was illuminated in Ferrari red.

"I dreamt of Ferrari being in China since 1993 even though the restrictions on imports were enormous," said Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo as he welcomed the two Ferraris at the finish. "Today the situation has changed and Ferrari now has its own trading organisation with complete customer support, and we now aspire to turn China into one of the six leading world markets. Shanghai's tribute to Ferrari, after New York's Empire State Building was lit up in red last year, confirms once again Ferrari's capability of arousing passion all over the world."

Last year Ferrari received an important award: for the first time an Italian brand was given the title of "Renowned Brand" by the Chinese Office for Trade Marks. Ferrari has benefited by the valuable support of Chinese authorities and has availed itself of Fiat China's logistical assistance for the organisation of the journey, sponsored by some of her most faithful partners, such as Shell (fuel and lubricants, with specific assistance in the most difficult areas), Puma (for the team's clothing), Alcoa (technical partner and 612's aluminium chassis supplier), Pirelli (special tyres for the different stages of the tour) and Saima Avandero (cars' and spare parts' shipping).

A Chinese partner as well took part in the enterprise, Xin Yu Watch & Clock, Swiss watches' main distributor in China. Two PowerDaily Iveco as a support and one Iveco 4x4 VM40.10 for technical assistance, tyres' and spare parts' transport and two Fiat Palio Weekend for video and photo shooting.

Ferrari in China
Ferrari has been present in China since 1993: initially with an importer in Hong Kong and, since last year, with a joint venture. Ferrari Maserati Cars International Trading, in which Ferrari and Maserati are the main shareholders, was set up in October 2004.

Ferrari Maserati Cars International Trading is the exclusive importer of Ferrari and Maserati cars in China, and is responsible for the marketing activities, sales to the dealer network, spare parts, accessories and technical support for both brands. Local personnel are directly trained by Italian Headquarters, in order to grant clients the best assistance, up to Ferrari and Maserati standards. The dealer network should be up and running by November in ten major Chinese cities (Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Panyu, Shenzen, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Chengdu, Xiamen and Chongqing).

Looking at China's dynamic growth is possible for Ferrari to foresee that this market may strongly develop in the next future; the current allocation of 90 Ferrari cars for 2005 may quickly rise in the next two or three years to make China one of the leading six markets for the Prancing Horse.

© italiancar.com.au 06/11/05