France Fabien Barthez drives his Ferrari 458 Italia
France Fabien Barthez drives his Ferrari 458 Italia during the Le Mans 24-hour sportscar race in Le Mans, central France June 15, 2014. The Ferrari 458 Italia number 58 is also driven by France's Soheil Ayari and Anthony Pons. Reuters/Stephane Mahe

Ferrari (RACE.N) spin off has become a reality with Fiat Chrysler (FCHA.MI) shareholders recently approving the separation of the supercar maker into an independent company at their Amsterdam meeting.

In October, Ferrari listed in Wall Street. By selling 10 percent stake of Ferrari in public, the parent company raised US$982 million (AU$1.3 billion). It will be left with 80 percent shares as another 10 percent is in the hands of Piero Ferrari, the founder’s son. The control of Ferrari will remain with Exor SpA, the Agnelli family’s holding company.

Post spin-off, the total gain for Fiat Chrysler will be around US$4 billion (AU$5.4 billion), which will be used for funding expansion and to cut down debts, reports AP. The Italian-American company has planned out a US$48 billion (AU$65.45) investment plan to expand production and relaunching of brands like Alfa Romeo.

Confirming the news, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, who is also the chairman of Ferrari, said Fiat Chrysler's remaining 80 percent stake in Ferrari will be distributed among its shareholders.

Road ahead

The Wall Street Journal, in a report noted the challenge for Ferrari after the hive off in proving that the super car manufacturer can steer alone as the competitors such as Lamborghini are representing large groups with deep pockets and economies of scale in both distribution and procurement.

Fiat Chrysler's 80 percent stake in Ferrari will be disbursed among the shareholders in January, the report said. Piero Ferrari will be getting US$300 million (AU$409 million) from Ferrari during spin off but he has no plans to sell his stake.

While taking pride in the milestones covered by Ferrari so far, CEO Marchionne called them all "outstanding.” However, he also referred to the extra miles the car maker has to travel now. The CEO said 2016 will be having unique benchmarks in terms of competition, reported Fox Sports.

“We have confirmed we have a great team by getting very, very close to Mercedes, but technically we are still inferior to them."

Referring to the shareholder meeting in Amsterdam, he said, “the results were outstanding.” Former president Luca di Montezemolo commented that, “Ferrari has become Fiat's cash machine.”

Xmas bonus

An elated Ferrari management also announced the employees a liberal Christmas treat of 5,000 euro bonus for thanking them on the 2015 financial results. Ferrari has more than 2,850 staff, reported Reuters.

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