2011 Ferrari California / Nero / 11,298 Miles / 6 In Stock To Choose From on 2040-cars

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Luxury carmakers make way more than just cars

Whether it's as simple as Ferrari offering model cars or as opulent as Bugatti with an $84,000-belt buckle, practically every automaker does more than just sell cars to keep their brands visible. The profits from these ventures might not be enough to keep the lights on, but in such a competitive industry, any extra cash is welcome. For the automakers that get licensing just right, there is a ton of profit to be made. According to a recent story examining the practice by The New York Times, Ferrari makes around $2.6 billion from merchandising each year, and General Motors tops that at $3.5 billion. Beyond just a profit center, merchandising can also protect an automaker's name. Take Hummer for example. The GM division shut down years ago, but it has continued to produce licensed cologne on sale around the world. "Because we still have the active fragrance, we're protecting the brand if we ever decide to bring it back," Gene Reamer, a GM licensing senior manager, told the Times. The whole piece is a fascinating look into this often ignored, but quite lucrative facet of the auto business. Read it for yourself, here. Related Video: News Source: The New York TimesImage Credit: Luca Bruno / AP Photo Design/Style Earnings/Financials Marketing/Advertising Read This Ferrari GM Hummer branding

Ferrari design challenge looks for the supercar of 2040

Ferrari launched a design contest to imagine what one of its cars might look like in 2040. Some 50 schools entered from around the world, and now that list has been whittled down to four. The finalists are: the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Hongik University in Korea, Hochschule Pforzheim in Germany, and the ISD-Rubika in France. Each school was invited to prepare three designs and spent the last year preparing them for final evaluation. The total of 12 entries are presented here from multiple angles in the gallery above. They range from the realistic to the fantastic, and while some were rendered in black, silver, or white, naturally most were imagined in the marque's signature red. The point in showing them to you is that the public gets to vote for their favorite. The winner will be awarded the Premio Speciale by popular choice. The Gran Premio, however, will be selected by a jury that includes Sebastian Vettel, Paolo Pininfarina, and musician-collectors Jay Kay (frontman of Jamiroquai), and Nick Mason (of Pink Floyd fame). The winners will be named on January 15, so cast your vote now on the dedicated Facebook page. What will the Ferraris of 2040 be like? The Top Design School Challenge enters its final phase Maranello, 4 December 2015 – What seemed like the wildest science fiction in the days of Jules Verne has been more than surpassed by modern invention. Maybe in a quarter of a century's time, we'll be saying the same about a slew of present-day projects that endeavour to envisage the Ferraris of the future. We are talking, of course, about the 12 models to have reached the finals of the Ferrari Top Design School Challenge. Also run in 2005 and 2012, this is the third outing for a competition in which the world's most prestigious design institutes vie for supremacy. Around 50 schools were considered in the first round and this number was then whittled to eight before four third-level institutes (spread across three continents) were selected as finalists.

Michael Schumacher's son Mick to test with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo in F1

LONDON — Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, will test with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo in Bahrain next week, the Formula One teams announced on Tuesday. The German, who makes his Formula Two debut in Bahrain this weekend with the Prema team, will test Ferrari's F90 car at the Sakhir circuit on April 2 after the grand prix there. The 19-year-old, who won the European F3 title last year and is a member of Ferrari's young driver academy, will also test Alfa Romeo's new car on the Wednesday. "I am really looking forward to what I'm sure will be a great experience," he said. "But for the moment, I am consciously putting all thoughts of the test to one side, because I am also very much looking forward to competing in my first F2 race and would like to focus 100 percent on the weekend to come." Britain's Callum Ilott, who is also in Formula Two this season and is another Ferrari academy member, will make his F1 test debut with Ferrari-powered Alfa in Barcelona in May after the Spanish Grand Prix. Schumacher's father, who has not been seen in public since suffering severe head injuries in a skiing accident in 2013, won five of his record seven Formula One titles with the Italian team between 2000-04 and holds the record of 91 wins. Ferrari principal Mattia Binotto said the team's current driver Charles Leclerc was proof of the worth of the academy as a high level training program for talented youngsters. "Mick, who joined the FDA in January, and Callum, who has been with us since 2017, are definitely drivers on their way up," he said. "I believe that driving the SF90 in an official setting such as the tests in Bahrain and Barcelona can be very useful at this stage in their career." Motorsports Alfa Romeo Ferrari Racing Vehicles F1 michael schumacher