Huge production volumes don’t necessarily translate into the biggest profits, as Ferrari proved in 2023.
The legendary Italian manufacturer recorded total sales of 5.97 billion euros (around 9.7 billion Australian dollars) last year with just 13,663 deliveries, an increase of 17 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, compared to 2022.
Industry analyst Felipe Munoz analyzed the numbers for Ferrari and a number of other brands and calculated that the Prancing Horse made an operating profit of €117,927 (~A$192,221) per vehicle sold in 2023 – about five times more than the second most profitable manufacturer.
For comparison, Chinese plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle maker BYD sold a massive 3,024,417 vehicles in 2023, but only earned €1,607 (~A$2,618) per vehicle sold. To surpass Ferrari’s profit per unit, it would have to sell 73 cars.
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Ferrari Purosangue
The introduction of the Purosangue likely contributed to Ferrari’s profits, as the SUV fetched an average price of 1 million Australian dollars and was already sold out in March last year.
The second most profitable manufacturer was Porsche, which made an operating profit of €22,747 (~A$37,078) per car sold.
The German brand sold 320,221 cars in 2023, with the 911 recording the highest sales growth and its SUVs accounting for 55 percent of its global volume.
Porsche would need to sell six cars to surpass Ferrari’s profit per unit in 2023.
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Porsche 911 Carrera
Here is a breakdown of each manufacturer’s operating profits per unit sold:
| Manufacturer | Units sold (worldwide) | Profit per unit (approximately AUD) |
|---|---|---|
| Ferrari | 13,663 | $192,221 |
| Porsche | 320,221 | $37,078 |
| Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) | 420,584 | $13,871 |
| BMW (including Mini) | 2,253,835 | $11,793 |
| Mercedes Benz | 2,043,800 | $11,395 |
| Tesla | 1,808,581 | $7249 |
| Stellar | 6,175,000 | $5906 |
| Subaru | 912,452 | $4661 |
| Isuzu | 770,000 | $4605 |
| Toyota (incl. Lexus, Daihatsu, Hino) | 11,230,000 | $4530 |
| Light up | 3,085,771 | $4283 |
| Volvo | 708,716 | $4117 |
| Hyundai | 4,216,680 | $4083 |
| Volkswagen Group (incl. Porsche, Audi, Skoda) | 9,240,000 | $3981 |
| Honda | 3,700,000 | $2892 |
| General Motors | 6,200,000 | $2765 |
| BYD | 3,024,417 | $2618 |
| Mitsubishi | 626,500 | $2608 |
| Mazda | 1,244,613 | $1954 |
| ford | 4,400,000 | $1823 |
| Renault | 1,548,748 | $1812 |
| Nissan | 3,374,271 | $1773 |
| Suzuki | 213,320 | $1463 |
| GWM | 1,230,000 | $462 |
| Aston Martin | 6620 | -$31,554 |
Tesla’s price cuts in 2023 helped the company achieve record sales of more than 1.8 million vehicles, but its operating profit fell from about $20.76 billion in 2022 to about $13.15 billion last year .
As a result, Tesla’s sales increased by 15 percent, while the number of units shipped increased by 38 percent.
To reach Ferrari’s figure of A$192,221, Tesla would have to sell 27 cars.
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Tesla Model 3
Among Chinese manufacturers, BYD made great progress in 2023, selling 62 percent more cars than the previous year.
Revenue also rose 34 percent to A$125.35 billion, with an operating margin of 6.3 percent or A$7.8 billion.
GWM’s margin fell from 4.8 percent in 2022 to 1.6 percent last year and was just $462 per car sold. GWM would have to sell a massive 415 cars to match Ferrari’s profits.
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Seal WORLD
The outlier on the list is Aston Martin, whose loss of $31,554 per unit is actually an improvement from 2022, when the company lost $40,658 per unit.
Sales of its DBX SUV fell nine percent, but sales of its performance car lineup rose 14 percent each in 2023.
JLR also improved its operating margin to 11 percent last year.