The new LaFerrari Aperta automobile produced by Ferrari sits on display during the first press day of the Paris Motor Show on September 29, 2016, in Paris, France. Chesnot/Getty Images
200 special customers bought the hybrid sports car sight unseen.
Ferrari?s 1.86 million euro ($2 million) LaFerrari Aperta sports car had sold out before its official debut at the Paris Motor Show on Thursday, a sign the super rich still clamor for any special edition of the luxury brand.
Only 200 of the hybrid convertible sports cars will be produced for carefully selected clients, with an additional nine made for use by the company during its 70th anniversary celebrations next year.
?For us a limited edition is a way to reward our most dedicated clients,? sales and marketing head Enrico Galliera said at Thursday?s launch. ?These 200 customers bought the car without having seen it; they went with faith.? Limited editions are routinely used by high-end sports car makers to showcase new technology, maintain exclusivity?and prices?and are a major source of profit for Ferrari and Volkswagen-owned ultra-luxury peers Bugatti and Lamborghini.
Some analysts estimate they could make up around 10 percent of Ferrari?s revenues this year.
?They?re hugely important to the mystique of the brand and their ability to continue to generate the sales that they need and that the markets demands of them now,? said Ian Fletcher, an analyst at IHS Automotive.
Getting invited to purchase one of the vehicles is not ...