20.05.2004 Ferrari Maserati President Luca di Montezemolo today officiated at a ceremony in Moscow to mark the the opening of the Group’s first showroom in the country

Ferrari Maserati President Luca di Montezemolo today officiated at a ceremony in Moscow to mark the simultaneous official launch of the Ferrari Maserati Group on the Russian market and the opening of the Group’s first showroom in the country.

Montezemolo cut the ribbon on the new exhibition spaces on the city’s highly exclusive downtown Tretyakovskiy Proezd in front of a large group of dignitaries and members of the media.

The opening of the new showroom and the associated assistance and spares centre (located right in the very heart of the city, just a stone’s throw from Red Square) brings the number of markets on which the Group is now present to 50. Markets which account for 95% of the entire world automobile output.

The Group’s partnership with its exclusive Russian importer and distributor will now guarantee Russian Ferrari and Maserati clients the same standard of excellence in terms of service and technical assistance for which both marques are renowned the world over. The Moscow staff, and those which will join their ranks at other planned dealerships in the future, have all attended special intensive training programmes run by the Group, and will have their skills updated on an ongoing basis with further courses at Ferrari in Maranello and Maserati in Modena.

It is estimated that over 100 Ferrari and Maserati cars in total will be sold in Russia in 2004. Demand has been particularly strong for the new Maserati Quattroporte as well as for the Spyder and Coupé. Ferrari’s most popular model thus far with Russian enthusiasts has been the 575M Maranello, followed by the new 612 Scaglietti.

The models on sale in Russia will include Ferrari’s two eight-cylinders, the 360 Modena and the 360 Spider, and its 12-cylindersm the 575M Maranello and the 612 Scaglietti. These will be flanked by the Maserati Quattroporte, Spyder, Coupé and GranSport. The first deliveries will be made to Russian Owners at the end of May.

Speaking at today’s ceremony, President Montezemolo declared: “I am particularly proud to have come to Moscow to join our partner Mercury in celebrating Ferrari and Maserati’s arrival in Russia today. I would also like to thank the people of the city for the warm welcome they extended to our team and the Ferrari and Maserati cars just a few weeks ago when they arrived here during the Russian and Northern European Tour.

"That warm welcome contributed in no small part to the wholehearted success of the expedition. Our entry onto this very promising new market offers the Ferrari Maserati Group the opportunity to share the technological innovation, exclusivity and utterly Italian personality of our cars with our Russian fans for the first time.

"Innovation and reliability that are, of course, directly derived from Ferrari’s long experience and research in Formula 1, from the kind of enthusiastic teamwork that has helped us win five consecutive World titles and to make a hugely successful start to the 2004 season. Experience and research which, in the case of Maserati, will be further boosted by the legendary Trident’s return to the track in the FIA-GT Championships, courtesy of the MC12”.