Ferrari and Naza have been associated for the past 15 years but the association will come to an end after this month. The Italian sportscar maker will end its business relationship with Naza Italia Sdn Bhd – aka Ferrari Malaysia – on April 8, 2023 and a new company will take over as official distributor for Malaysia.

Confirming the termination, a statement from the Naza Automotive Group today explained that the company has been reviewing the brand mix of its automotive business to find the right fit for its business strategy. “We have agreed to conclude our relationship with Ferrari S.p.A due to the non-alignment of their expectations to our strategy,” the statement said, giving assurance of support to Ferrari for a smooth transition of business.

“The parting of ways with Ferrari is timely for us as it will enable us to focus on our other brands and serves well for our other brands as we will be able to reallocate resources to brands that fit into our automotive business strategy,” Naza added.

The progression from being just an importer of Ferraris to an authorized distributor was a natural one for the Naza Group which had been dealing with imported cars since the mid-1970s. Besides Ferrari, Naza Italia also handles Maserati, an affiliate in the Stellantis Group. So the high-end facilities it has invested in since 2008 will still be of use for a luxury brand.

While the Naza Group has been associated with other cars brands such as Kia, Peugeot and Chevrolet – and even had its own automotive brand at one stage – it has also ended representation of those brands. However, it took on Suzuki in April 2021 and continues to represent the brand which had earlier stopped its 4-wheeler sales in Malaysia after it had briefly worked with Proton and provided a model which was sold as the Ertiga.

At this time, no further information has been provided by Ferrari Asia-Pacific concerning the new party that will represent the brand in Malaysia.