A new era starts today in Australia and New Zealand (1 October 2005) for two of the world's legendary automotive marques, Ferrari and Maserati, with distribution being taken over by European Automotive Imports Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Australia and New Zealand's leading independent car importer, Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd.

"This is nothing less than a dream come true," says Neville Crichton, Governing Director of Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd. "Ferrari and Maserati represent the very pinnacle of automotive achievement in so many areas and they are nothing less than legends."

"To be their representative is a unique honour. But at the same time, it is also a tremendous responsibility and we are pledged to lift the quality of service we offer to customers and to ensure that the local ownership experience fully matches the qualities of these remarkable cars," says Mr Crichton.

In addition to assuming control of the national distribution of Ferrari and Maserati, the company will also be responsible for the retail business in Sydney and New South Wales. On 6 October 2005 a new Ferrari and Maserati dealership, Italia Motori, will open its doors in William Street to provide representation for the marques prior to the opening of a purpose-built all-new dealership just to the south of Sydney's CBD in late 2006.
 

These dealerships will be complemented by a service and parts department in Artarmon. In the longer term, European Automotive Imports Pty Ltd is looking to open a further sales outlet on Sydney's North Shore. Across Australia and New Zealand the new importer is already working with its dealer group on significant new dealerships and major upgrades t existing facilities to ensure that Ferrari and Maserati dealerships are on a par with worldwide standards.

While Ferrari sales are strictly limited by supply, European Automotive Imports are aiming for around a 30 per cent increase in sales from Ferrari's figure of 69 cars in 2004 and 73 cars in 2003. This will be achieved through the recent launch of the Spider version of the F430, the arrival of the Superamerica this month and an increase in sales of the 612 Scaglietti. Like Ferrari, Maserati sales are limited by supply, but again European Automotive Imports plans a 30 per cent lift in both Australian and New Zealand sales with the arrival of new versions of the GranSport and Quattroporte.

In addition to its new facilities for its retail business, the new
headquarters for Ferrari and Maserati in Australia will be at the Homebush headquarters of Ateco Automotive, an all-new facility designed to meet the exacting demands of a car importer.