A Texas Reader Says There's No War On Christmas At Italy's Ferrari Plant
01/01/2013
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Re: This is the amazing Christmas wonderland Ferrari builds for kids every year, By Seyth Miersma, AutoBlog, December 23, 2012

From: Roger Chaillet [Email him]

My brother and I attempted to visit the Ferrari factory about 20 years ago.   We were on our way from Rome to Austria via Florence and Modena.   We stopped in Modena, and took the bus out to suburban Maranello.   Couldn't get into the factory as neither one of us owned a Ferrari, but we did walk down to the nearby Fiorano test track.   We got to see test drivers driving the then new F40 around the track.

After the drive ended, we hiked back the kilometer or so to the bus stop in front of the factory.  We stood there for a few minutes, and watched the factory employees crossing the street from the nearby cantina. They had just finished lunch.  Moments later the new Ferrari F40 drove up to factory entrance. The factory workers broke into loud clapping, whistling and cheering at the sight of the car. They were wildly proud of their new car.

And as you can see from the video, then-chairman Luca Montezemolo reciprocated this pride and loyalty by celebrating Christmas in style, focusing on the children of the extended Ferrari family.

Is it any wonder that Ferrari is recognized as the best place to work in all of Europe? 

See previous letters from Roger Chaillet.

James Fulford writes: Roger Chaillet didn’t make any explicit comparison to American companies like Ford and General Motors and their attitudes to (a) Christmas and (b) offshoring, so I will. Ferrari’s attitude is much better.

I’ll also point out that Italy’s relatively monocultural population—Italy is still Italian, much to the global elite's irritation—makes it easier for businesses to behave like that.

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