TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Ferrari dealership
changes driversAdd Ferrari's distinctive reared-up horse to the stable of high-end exotic cars at JN Automotive Group: Maserati, Lamborghini and Lotus. JN is also a dealer for Chevrolet, Mazda and now Audi.
The transfer of Ferrari of Honolulu from TheoDavies Euromotors Ltd. to JN, where it will be called "Ferrari of Hawaii," included "all the tools and equipment you are required to have," said JN President Joe Nicolai, "the various odds and ends that go with an auto franchise -- we also bought their parts inventory."
This is one of two recent transactions between TheoDavies and JN, the value of which were not disclosed.
"I had a lease (on Beretania Street)," said TheoDavies President Gary Wassel, "and there were three franchises there, Porsche, Audi and Land Rover."
Audi's annual sales volume had reached a point where "it was deserving of a location by itself," he said, "but it didn't look like the property lease would permit us to receive a decent return on our investment so we decided to try to market the location.
"An intelligent young man named Joseph Nicolai said 'I'll take the location if I can have the Audi and Ferrari franchises,'" Wassel said.
The Audi and Ferrari transactions were separated; the lease and Audi went in December, the Ferrari franchise in November.
Manufacturers of high-end vehicles are increasingly requiring stand-alone showrooms, Nicolai said. "It was an issue of space and focus for TheoDavies."
JN assumes TheoDavies' Ferrari allocation of 9 "units" a year and will house its authorized Ferrari dealership with its Audi dealership on Beretania Street. "The first 27 cars are pre-sold -- so it'll be three years before we clear the existing orders," he said. "With only nine units a year we can't very well go out and build (a stand-alone facility.)"
However, JN this spring is to begin development of its Symphony Park project at the corner of Kapiolani Boulevard and Ward Avenue, where TheoDavies is currently a tenant. That development will provide Ferrari its own space, he said.
While he hopes to win an allocation increase, Nicolai discourages buying a Ferrari through a mainland broker.
"It's that Hawaii resident who by design and scheme tries to escape the 4 percent gross excise tax with some Mickey-Mouse broker on the mainland and then expects us to take care of his service problems. No, no, that's not gonna happen," Nicolai said. "We'll both wind up in the hospital. Him with a sore okole and me with my foot in it."
At present the Ferrari of North America Web site at www.ferrarina.com has no mention or live link to a Hawaii Ferrari dealership, but Nicolai expects there will be one soon.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com