Ferrari predicts that 70 per cent of California sales will be to customers new to the marque. Since the demand for its other models, the F430, the 599 GTB Fiorano and the 612 Scaglietti, is undiminished, this means an increase in production of at least 20 per cent. Last year Ferrari sold a record 6,465 cars; in 2009, the first full year of California production, the total can be expected to exceed 8,000.

The factory at Maranello has been transformed over the past 10 years from a collection of artisan workshops to a streamlined ‘citadella’ comprising startling buildings by well-known architects separated by streets and boulevards named after Ferrari’s racing champions.

The new facilities were the vision of Luca di Montezemolo, the Ferrari president who is also the chairman of the Fiat Group, Ferrari’s controlling shareholder. When he was appointed president of Ferrari in December 1991, three years after its founder Enzo Ferrari died, the company was at low ebb. The Maranello workforce was inefficient, dissatisfied and increasingly militant. Its equipment and facilities were tired, its processes inappropriate for the last decade of the 20th century.

Montezemolo set about changing the company ethos. He devised Formula Uomo, emphasizing man rather than machine (and resonating with the Formula Uno racing programme which has always under-pinned Ferrari’s activities).

In this worker-first scheme, the latest machinery would be installed alongside green spaces in buildings full of natural light and temperature controlled. The foundry, previously a dark, hot and potentially dangerous place, is light, cool and highly automated in its new form.

The theory of Formula Uomo is that a contended workforce given the best tools available will provide higher quality products. That quality will increase demand and profit.

Montezemolo admits that some aspects, like the zen garden with its reflecting pools on the first floor of the Product Development Centre designed by Massimiliano Fuskas, were extravagant. But he believes that they were worthwhile – indeed, vital – to preserve Ferrari’s reputation and present itself at the appropriately high level to new customers in the Middle East and Asia.

The new assembly building, is the latest phase or Formula Uomo. It was designed by prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, and includes suspended rotating cradles for the cars under construction and component sets transported silently on magnetically-guided trolleys.

There is also a new staff restaurant building shaped (by Marco Visconti) to resemble a racing car aerofoil wing. It produces 3,400 meals a day and also provides an outside relaxation area on a shaded lawn.

These structures were included in the 299 million Euros that Ferrari allocated for investment and research and development in 2007. By any standards, this is now a very successful company. Last year’s 2007 results show a 15.35 increase in turnover to 1.66 billion Euro. The trading profit of 266 million Euro represents a 16% return on sales.

Montezemolo emphasizes that the planned increase in production is not for economic reasons. The new assembly lines, he insists, are to make better cars, more efficiently, rather than increase volume. Some years ago, Montezemolo said that, to maintain exclusivity, Ferrari production would never exceed 4,000 cars a year. Now 10,000 seems a prospect.

The change of heart has come for two reasons. One is geographic, with the emergence of strong new markets like the Gulf states and China. The other is to reduce the waiting lists for delivery; Montezemolo wants to bring those down to a maximum of 18 months.

About 3,000 people work at Ferrari. Employee services include medical and fitness check-ups, training courses in languages, computers and management, a range of mortgages and personal loans at discounted rates and Ferrari Village, walking distance from the factory, which provides accommodation for those moving to Maranello from other areas.

The success of Formula Uomo is clear. In 2006, Ferrari was voted the Best Place to Work in Italy. Last year it was proclaimed the Best Place to Work in Europe.

The next stage is to show that, despite making some of the world’s extravagant cars, Ferrari is intent on its production processes saving energy and protecting the environment. The introduction of a photovoltaic system to take advantage of Italy’s summer sunshine and a 17 megawatt tri-generation plant will produce 25% of the factory’s electricity needs and reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 35%.

And this temple to the motor vehicle is providing 100 bicycles for its staff to get between buildings along the tree-lined streets of the Maranello campus - where car parking is absolutely forbidden.

Image Gallery