The Annual General Ferrari Stockholders’ Meeting took place today under the chairmanship of Chairman Luca di Montezemolo.

The Meeting approved the 2008 balance sheet and annual report which, as announced over the last few days, revealed record results across all of the main economic indicators. The first and foremost of these was, of course, profitability with the ROS (Return on Sales) rising to 17.6%.

Ferrari recorded revenues of 1,921 million euro (+15.2%) in 2008 with its Brand-related activities (licensing, retail and ecommerce) growing particularly strongly (28%). Investments were up to 18% of turnover too.

Also at today’s Meeting, Chairman Luca di Montezemolo announced Jean Todt’s decision to resign his membership of the Ferrari Board of Directors and from all of the other positions he holds in the Company. The Chairman then thanked Mr Todt on behalf of the Board of Directors and everyone at Ferrari, for the major contribution he has made to the success of the Scuderia over the years, and the commitment and dedication he has shown in all of the positions he has held since he arrived at Maranello in 1993. Mr Todt’s appointments at Ferrari included those of GES Director, CEO and Member of the Board of Directors.

“Jean Todt has been one of the leading protagonists of the Ferrari story of the last 15 years,” declared Montezemolo. “Skill and passion have always characterised his work and have won him the respect and affection of my staff, the Company as a whole and Prancing Horse enthusiasts everywhere. I would like to wish him the very best for the future which I hope will prove extremely satisfying both personally and professionally.”

“All of these years we’ve spent together – victories and tough times included – have forged a link between Jean Todt and Ferrari that will never be broken,” concluded the Chairman.

Further spy images of the forthcoming Ferrari F450 have emerged. The test mule was shot while testing in Sweden in conditions which are not ideal for a rear-wheel-driven Ferrari. Nevertheless, ice-cold circumstances are part of the development process if reliability under any kind of weather is to be claimed.

Boasting over 500hp the F450 is even rumoured to have a higher power output than the 520hp F430 Scuderia. Ferrari will use the same double-clutch gearbox from the California for the F450 to double-up with the envisaged 4.5-litre V8. How the global financial difficulty has affected the scarlet marque will be seen in the F450 through possible technologies like a road car version of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems).

The mule in these pictures may be disguised as an F430 but the differences are easy to spot; wider fenders, the air scoops and that centrally-mounted exhaust pipe give the guessing game away.

Ferrari has apparently codenamed the car F142 and it is expected to make its first public showing at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2009. Deliveries would then commence just over a year from now.

A special ceremony to mark the 1,000th Ferrari delivered in Hong Kong took place in Victoria Harbour yesterday. Over 65 international media from Hong Kong, Macau and the adjacent markets participated in this significant milestone for Ferrari in the Asia-Pacific region. From the first Ferrari delivered to a Hong Kong customer in the early 1960’s, now, some 45 years later, this 1,000th car is a new 612 Scaglietti ‘One-To-One’, the flagship of the current Ferrari range which was specially commissioned by the owner last year.

The handover ceremony took place in a truly unique way. Believed to be a ‘first’ for any automotive company in Hong Kong, the car was presented to the Hong Kong owner, Mr Didier Li, on board ‘Huan’, a Chinese Junk, in Victoria Harbour during the late afternoon. ‘Huan’ is a fitting symbol of Hong Kong’s history and the backdrop of Hong Kong Island’s modern skyline providing a truly spectacular and exclusive ceremony for the handover of the 1000th Prancing Horse car in one of the most mature markets in the Asia Pacific Region.

In Hong Kong, Ferrari delivered 115 cars in 2008 and 1,089 cars across the whole Asia Pacific region; Japan continues to be the primary market for Ferrari with 433 cars delivered to clients in 2008, an increase of 15%, while more than 200 cars were delivered in China for the first time, an increase of 20% on 2007 to 212.

One of the stated reasons that automakers send prototype race cars around tracks at high rates of speed is to further the development of new technology for their road-going automobiles. There’s no higher form of automotive motorsport than Formula 1, so it stands to reason that fuel-saving advancements like the kinetic energy recovery hybrid systems that F1 is currently in the midst of implementing will someday make it to production cars. According to Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the Italian automaker is already testing its KERS system in a prototype based on the 599 chassis.

There’s some speculation that the edition 599XX at the Geneva Motor Show may have some form of the KERS system installed, but that’s not confirmed. With this technology, energy that would otherwise be lost to braking can be stored and reused the next time the vehicle accelerates, thereby boosting both performance and efficiency, and that’s something we can all get behind.

The focus under the Prancing Horse this year at the Geneva Motor Show was clearly on the flagship 599, with its new HGTE package and 599XX track car, but Maranello also brought out the new Scuderia Spider 16M. The limited edition roadster was originally unveiled back in November at the Mugello race track in northern Italy to celebrate Ferrari’s 16th Formula One constructors’ title that was earned last year, but this was the first look we’ve had of it up close. Essentially a cross between the 430 Scuderia and the F430 Spider, the 16M is, according to Ferrari, the fastest convertible ever offered by the brand.