In the year Ferrari celebrates its 50th anniversary in the United States, the Ferrari Maserati Group opens a new exclusive showroom in the place where the prancing horse first began its adventure in North America: New York City.

Park Avenue, one of the most elegant and renowned thoroughfares in the world, will be host to an exclusive Factory corporate showroom for both the Ferrari and Maserati brands.

The new facility is only blocks away from the site where Luigi Chinetti - winner of the 1949 Le Mans 24 Hours and the first US importer for the prancing horse - opened his showroom in the Spring of 1954.

In the spanning 50 years, the United States has become the largest market in the world for both the Ferrari and Maserati brands.

The new showroom at the corner of Park and 55th is a window for the Ferrari Maserati Group in the heart of America’s economic capital. Not a dealership in the traditional sense, the showroom is directly managed by Ferrari Maserati North America, the official importer of both brands in the United States and Canada.

Thanks to its prestigious location, the new Ferrari Maserati showroom acts as an ambassador, representing the finest in Italian industry to those in the heart of the US and international business world.

For Maurizio Parlato, President and CEO of Ferrari Maserati North America, the opening of the showroom in Manhattan is yet another chapter in the long and happy relationship between New York City and Ferrari. “I will never forget,” says Mr. Parlato, “the extraordinary emotion that we felt the night of April 7th of this year when the Empire State Building was lit in Ferrari red to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our presence in the United States.”
 

Of clear Italian design and decisive Italian tastes featuring large image panels capturing key moments of Ferraris racing victories, while also demonstrating Maserati’s luxurious style and character, the showroom will act as a rendezvous point for meetings with the press, clients, celebrities and VIPs- not only Americans, but those in the international community who are visiting New York.

Clients interested the latest Ferrari or Maserati products on display at the Park Avenue showroom will be directed to one of the four local dealers: Ferrari Maserati of Long Island; Miller Motorcars in Greenwich, Connecticut; Wide World of Cars in Spring Valley, New York; and Ferrari Maserati of Central New Jersey in Edison, New Jersey.

Ferrari is getting ready to close 2004 with the 12th straight record year. By December sales to clients will be 1400 units, versus 1350 in 2003. Maserati is ending its third year since returning to North America.

Enormous is the success of the new Quattroporte which reached the market in mid-September of this year. This success comes also as a result of prestigious projects such as the Neiman Marcus special edition Quattroporte which sold out 60 units in 36 minutes. The flagship sedan was recently featured on the cover of LIFE magazine and has a portfolio of 1300 orders, equal to a waiting list of about one year.

The Ferrari Maserati showroom will open to the public Saturday, November 20th.