Japan is becoming Ferrari's next growth market.
Registrations of Fiat SpA's ultra-luxury brand surged 40 percent to 144 vehicles in Japan last quarter, the Japan Automobile Importers Association said Thursday. That's more than twice the growth in the larger U.S. market, while demand is slumping in China, at home and across Europe.
The surge in demand for luxury cars adds to signs that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda are succeeding in reviving spending in the country. Stock prices are climbing back to levels before the September 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and households have become more confident about the economic outlook.