Ferrari 458 Italia – better value than the McLaren MP4-12C?

The Ferrari 458 Italia - better value than the McLaren MP4-12C?

McLaren has revealed that the MP4-12C will cost less than the 458 Italia. But the man from Ferrari disagrees.

Just a short while ago we revealed that there is now an official price for the McLaren MP4-12C. And, just like many other media outlets, we compared the price for the McLaren with that of the Ferrari 458 Italia. It made sense, particularly as Ron Dennis has made no secret of the fact that McLaren are gunning for the 458 Italia with the MP4-12C.

But the man from Ferrari doesn’t quite see things being as clear-cut as we stated in our story. In fact, the man from Ferrari was on the phone just after we pressed the publish button on the story and set it free on Twitter. And as he has a valid point we thought you might like to know what he has to say.

On the face of it the price for the MP4-12C at £168,500 undercuts that of the 458 Italia, which starts at £169,546. But the McLaren price doesn’t include first registration fee and road fund licence. If you stick that on to the price of the MP4-12C then it comes in at £169,550.

But – you may well say – that’s all well and good, but doesn’t the MP4-12C price include VAT at 20% and not 17.5%? And if you priced the 458 Italia with 20% VAT the price would come out at £173,150. Fair point, says the man from Ferrari. But he also says that Ferrari hasn’t yet decided whether to pass on the increase in VAT in January, or not.

The man from Ferrari would also like to point out that the 458 Italia comes with Carbon Ceramic brakes as standard and he believes that McLaren will be charging for ceramic brakes on the MP4-12C. Which would make the MP4-12C more expensive than the 458 Italia.

What all this tells us of course is that Ron Dennis has hit his target with the price point announced. Which will no doubt make him grin from ear to ear. But the man from Ferrari does have some very valid points, so I think we’ll declare this one an honourable draw.

We look forward to finding out if the MP4-12C is as good as the 458 Italia. If it is, it will be an astonishing achievement by McLaren. Because the 458 Italia is very possibly the best car Ferrari has ever made.

And praise doesn’t come much higher.