In the automotive world, producing the most powerful or comfortable car is not enough to hit the jackpot. If you ask, is Ferrari the fastest car on the market? The answer is no. The combination of multiple aspects is what makes them the world’s most desirable brand, not just like any other car brand.

Ferrari is not just speed. Forget the numbers for a moment and climb inside a Ferrari to think about why the overall experience of driving it is satisfying and why the slightest push of the throttle triggers an instant feeling of liveliness that flows through the driver's seat. Ask any Ferrari enthusiast, and you’ll get the same answer because they have the passion. Most of us grow up with a Ferrari poster in our bedroom! Youtuber Shmee150 had an F50 poster, and it’s still his dream car! It will be no surprise to see one in his garage someday.

Merging power with drivability is designed to deliver the best driving experience. In other terms, it’s the ability to drive the car close to the limit confidently without being a professional racing driver. The Italian marque calls it "emotion to drive" or "having the emotion while driving a Ferrari"—feeling the difference of driving a car that is not only delivering performance but also an emotion that’s unique to a brand and different from any other car.

This is what makes them different from other sports car manufacturers. If you do get behind the wheel, you will directly feel the "Ferrari way of life" and probably desire more. Therefore, the most common ways Ferrari uses scarcity are:

1. Driver-focused, luxurious, powerful, and special-looking vehicles with the possibility of having a unique delivery experience directly from the factory in Maranello.

2. Limiting the number of units of a model available or being released Ferrari focuses on exclusivity, and sometimes this also includes being part of an exclusive group that has access to their product and racing program. The long wait between production and delivery makes for a thrilling experience once you see your car for the first time.

A new model isn’t a small redesign with extra horsepower; it’s a new concept, new positioning, and a completely new technological and innovative car. Ferrari creates a new segment and a new product for the segment, rather than increasing the volume.

It’s amazing when you consider that production has always been extremely limited. Ferrari’s tactic is always to deliver one less car than the demand. If you have the demand for 12,000 cars, 10,000 is very exclusive. Vice versa is not. The ratio between demand and delivery is the key. The low-volume production strategy is designed to preserve scarcity and exclusivity to ensure each Ferrari is more valuable. Not to mention the proper service they provide to their clients.

In recent years, the company has purposely kept annual production at about 7,000 cars to create a scarcity premium by making buyers wait, on average, almost a year before their red sports car finally arrived. Ferrari’s models are seen as more valuable when they have recently become scarce rather than if they have always been in short supply. That’s why most of their cars in their current product range are already pre-sold a whole year in advance.

Rarity gets customers to value the product more. This can translate into eventually accepting a higher price and feeling more satisfied with the product. With the LaFerrari Aperta, for example, Enrico Galliera, Ferrari’s chief marketing and commercial officer, simply sent 200 letters to their preferred clients. As a result, all 210 examples were pre-sold before it made its debut at the 2016 Paris Auto Show, reportedly selling for $3.9 million.

In 2019, the Italian car maker has capped production of its extravagantly expensive cars at about 10,000 vehicles a year, helping fuel an aura of exclusivity without damaging its scarcity premium by increasing sales in markets such as China while keeping them largely stable in mature markets (this is the stage where the rate of growth slows, perhaps to zero; the market is still growing just at a decreasing rate) like the U.S. and Europe.

In short, the reason why scarcity marketing tactics are so effective is due to our fear of missing out (FOMO). Scarcity is an effective marketing tactic to get clients to buy a Ferrari now. If they decide to leave and think about it, they’ll probably never get their hands on a limited-edition model.