Cars. What are they?
For most, they are a means of convenience. They enable human beings to transport themselves and goods in a manner more efficient than walking or more modern modes like horse & cart and bikes.
For the few, they are all the above plus objects of desire and passion. For the few, these “cars” are more often than not less practical than those chosen by “the many”.
The single goal of any company, private or public is to drive and maintain “shareholder” value. Even companies that do not turn a profit (at the moment), they have a business model that still drives shareholder value.
It has long been accepted that for car companies to survive on a “global” scale, they need to offer cars that drive shareholder value. Therefore these “cars” will be models that can “generally” be afforded by the masses and perform a multitude of functions that will attract the widest demographic of buyers.
Whether the building of models “for the many” drives the profit (nee funding) to build cars “for the few” or whether building cars “for the few” is driven by aspirational marketing for “the many”, the reality is that today, the world has moved on and car companies can not survive unless they have “for the many” models driving the ability to produce shareholder value.
Yes, there are exceptions. Konisegg being one of them but 3D printing technology has really helped them survive with their unique brand value.
So Maserati like any other brand, irrespective of whether they are part of a “group”, need to contribute towards shareholder value creation. That has meant them shifting their business model focus towards producing models that can appeal “to the many”.
This has been at the expense of the “for the few” models which its brand has always been built on.
For me, the issue is all down to effective leadership and communication. If they came out with a committed 5 year plan and stuck to it with effective updates along the way, then we would all forgive them as we a) knew what the game plan was and b) trusted them to execute on it. There has been muddled communication and missed deadlines on published commitments. Unfortuately, that seems very much the norm in todays world we live in. Everything is so short sighted unless you are someone like Elon Musk who has the balls to try and deliver on a long-term vision.
To the cars, I do not think the Ghibli is mediocre. I like it. I like it more today than I did when it first came out. Speed limits have not gone up. In the real world, we drive slower as there are many more cars on the road. If you truly want to drive the Stradale to its potential on the roads, then you are a tit of the highest order. It has a heater and SatNav. What more do you really “need”?
Unfortunately, the world is mired by fickle people who blast something for no real reason, as in reality, something performs the function very well so there is no need to blast it.
I am at the gym waiting for my daughter to finish her tennis lesson. We came in the 5 GT Turbo. I spent the journey chuckling how bouncy and almost out of control I felt,,,, at 40 MPH but I loved it. You do not need to go fast to enjoy driving.
Let’s just all enjoy our cars.
We’re all a long time dead.....
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Stu
