Honda announced they are exiting F1 and other carmakers have experienced a 30-40% decreases in sales in November. Ferrari is apparently feeling the same pain according to Autocar. Ferrari, who used to sell 600 cars a month, only sold 92 in November and are preparing to layoff 300 workers as well as a mandatory 20 day closure of its Maranello plant during the holidays.
The company has admitted it could shed up to 300 employees as early as this Friday.
Ferrari will also shut its Maranello production plant for an unprecedented 20 days over Christmas, which sources insist will be to prevent vehicle stockpiles reaching unmanageable levels.
While this is indicative of the global automaker crisis, I cannot imagine Ferrari leaving F1. Like Williams, they will scale back and do what ever it takes to field two cars but in the end, just how much recession can the luxury marque take given their current F1 appetite?