By Didier Gottardini
Charles Pozzi, anatomy of a company that has become a benchmark in automotive luxury.
Éric Neubauer: a trajectory guided by instinct and transmission
Behind the revival and transformation of Charles Pozzi, there is a personality whose career path almost naturally mirrors the very history of the automobile. Eric Neubauer His family lineage is deeply intertwined with the origins of the industry, dating back to the early industrial developments of the early 20th century in Levallois, then the global heart of automobile production. This heritage is not merely an inheritance; it forms a foundation. Nurtured by this environment from childhood, he developed an instinctive connection to mechanics, further developed through his involvement in motorsport, particularly rallying, which shaped his perspective. For him, passion is never separate from experience. It becomes a tool for understanding, a framework for analysis, a way of grasping both performance and human relationships.
By taking over Charles Pozzi, he is not simply running a company: he is extending a history, while injecting a personal vision, based on movement, intuition and transmission, even inscribing this dynamic in his own family, with a son who became an official Ferrari endurance driver.
This interview reveals a success story based on people, transmission, and a certain idea of excellence.
Charles Pozzi Paris: “Our customers don’t just buy a car, they live an experience.”
In the world of luxury automobiles, few dealerships manage to transcend their primary function and become true territories of image, loyalty, and emotion. Charles Pozzi Paris is one of them. Heir to a legendary name, driven by a demanding vision of service and exclusivity, the company has established itself as much more than a Ferrari dealership: a place of experience, a benchmark player, a signature.
"At its core, Charles Pozzi is first and foremost a man's story."
When we go back to the origins of the house, what do you think made the difference from the very beginning?
The first thing to understand is that Charles Pozzi was founded by a man. And that changes everything. Charles Pozzi was one of the first to earn Enzo Ferrari's trust, which, at the time, was no small feat. There's something fundamental here: before being a structure, a brand, or an institution, Charles Pozzi was born from a human relationship, personal credibility, and genuine passion.
Even before becoming the Ferrari importer for France in 1969, Charles Pozzi had already distributed numerous used cars of various makes. But what would truly define the company's identity was its connection to motorsport. He didn't just sell cars: he entered them in races, raced them, created a team, and invested in endurance racing. From the outset, there was this idea that legitimacy was also built on the track.
"Taking over Charles Pozzi was like taking over a story."
What was the turning point, the moment when the house truly changed its dimension?
The major turning point came when Ferrari resumed its import business in the early 2000s. Then, in 2009, the brand asked the current management to bring back Charles Pozzi. The challenge was immense. It wasn't simply a matter of relaunching a site or restarting a business: it was about becoming part of a history, restoring the prestige of a name, and reviving a company already steeped in history.
The context isn't helping. The takeover is happening during a difficult economic period, in the aftermath of a crisis. The first few years are complex. Restructuring, reorganization, and a fresh start are necessary. But it's precisely in this moment of tension that a vision emerges: Charles Pozzi must no longer be just a car garage. The business must become a place to live, a place to experience, a place where people feel something.
"Luxury is not about glitz and glamour: it is first and foremost an experience."
Has the DNA of the house remained true to its origins?
Yes, but only if we understand that a house true to itself is not a static house. Entrepreneurship demands agility. Things change, markets evolve, expectations shift. The key, therefore, is less about maintaining a fixed form than about preserving a deep-rooted intention.
Charles Pozzi's intention rests on a particular definition of luxury. A demanding definition, almost at odds with certain contemporary trends. Here, luxury is not mere decoration, much less an excess of communication. Luxury is first and foremost an experience. A rare, exclusive, unique experience. With Ferrari, this takes on a special dimension, because rarity and uniqueness are integral to the product. But it is still necessary to know how to frame them, to stage them, to imbue them with a soul.
"We wanted to create something other than a dealership."
At what point did you realize that Charles Pozzi Paris was no longer just a dealership, but a benchmark?
Deep down, the house had always been like that. It simply needed its potential awakened. There was a sleeping beauty there. The work consisted of restoring its strength, recharging it with desire, coherence, and presence.
This translated into work on the image, on the ambassadors, on how to represent the house. But always with a clear principle: not to create a marketing veneer. The house had to speak authentically. It had to be inhabited by real people, real convictions, a genuine way of welcoming guests.
Here again, it all comes down to this idea of experience. It's not about mechanically reproducing a corporate specification identical to what's done everywhere else in the world. You have to start from that foundation to create something different, something unique, something with a soul.
"The corporate structure is merely a working basis."
Was the development achieved without compromise?
Development is only possible under one condition: being in complete harmony with the builder. Without this partnership, nothing solid can be built. But this doesn't mean simply executing orders. Quite the opposite.
The philosophy advocated here is to consider the brand identity as a starting point, not an end in itself. This approach has sometimes met with initial resistance, but it has also allowed progress to the point that certain ideas developed locally have ultimately inspired broader developments within the Ferrari universe.
This is undoubtedly one of the hallmarks of his success: never being passive. Proposing and defending a vision, believing in what one is building, and doing so with enough consistency for it to eventually prevail.
"Our customers don't buy a car, they buy an experience."
What distinguishes Charles Pozzi today from other players in the luxury automotive sector?
The difference lies in the quality of the relationship. More than in the car itself, it is in the way of receiving, supporting, and maintaining the connection that the company asserts its uniqueness.
Perhaps the most accurate comparison isn't to be found with other retailers, but rather with the manufacturers themselves. The true luxury houses. Those that work with materials, personalization, meticulous attention to detail, and time. At Charles Pozzi, there is this same commitment to a bespoke welcome, to ongoing relationships, to a personalized atmosphere, and to genuine connection.
The customer is not just coming to buy a rare item. He is entering a world where everything is designed to give him an exclusive experience.
"To pull off a heist is to never see the client again."
What are the non-negotiable values in the house?
Loyalty. Longevity. Stability. These are undoubtedly the most important concepts. For management, success is not about carrying out a spectacular operation, but about building a relationship that lasts.
In this world, "making a quick buck" is meaningless. It often means never seeing the client again. Conversely, true success lies in building lasting relationships, seeing clients return, and witnessing the development of a bond of trust, almost a mutual attachment, between the establishment and its patrons.
This philosophy is also the one that the manufacturer is increasingly seeking: a loyal, stable customer base, supported over time, to which new enthusiasts are gradually added.
"During Covid, it was the teams who refused to stop."
What was the most difficult moment to manage?
Without hesitation, Covid. Not just because of the general uncertainty, but because it was a major human test. And what emerges from this period, paradoxically, is not tension: it's pride.
The teams, particularly those in after-sales service, refused a complete shutdown. They wanted to continue, maintain operations, retrieve vehicles if necessary, and adapt. Ultimately, the dealership only closed very briefly before reopening with the necessary safety measures in place.
In a success story, we often talk about strategy, growth, and results. But there are times when everything comes down to the quality of the women and men who make up the company. This is one of them.
"Ferrari is a manufacturer, not an industry."
Why does Ferrari remain a unique case in the world of luxury automobiles?
Because Ferrari is not conceived here as a manufacturer in the industrial sense of the term. It is perceived as a workshop. A company that manufactures, integrates, masters, and maintains a design coherence rare in contemporary automobiles.
This also explains the intense emotion surrounding it. A Ferrari is not simply a high-performing or desirable product. It is a mechanical masterpiece, imbued with a unique mystique. Even decades after its inception, the brand continues to elicit an immediate, almost instinctive reaction. This symbolic power cannot be bought; it is built over time, through competition, rarity, and consistency.
"Excellence is passed down through time."
How do you transmit these values to your teams?
First, through time. In such a unique environment, only time allows one to truly understand what the company represents. An employee who stays, who grows with it, who absorbs its codes and culture, naturally becomes an ambassador.
There's something in this vision that evokes the apprenticeship system. School provides a foundation, but it doesn't impart instinct, skillful technique, a keen understanding of the client, or the depth of expertise. All of that is acquired through experience, over time, and through daily practice.
This is also why team loyalty is so highly valued. A company of excellence is not solely based on its leaders, but on the quality of those who bring it to life day after day.
"Heritage, present, future: you have to know how to hold all three together."
Do you see yourselves as guardians of a legacy or builders of a new era?
Both, and even more. It is necessary to be able to preserve know-how linked to historical models, to master more recent vehicles, but also to anticipate the technological developments that are reshaping the automobile of tomorrow.
This is the complexity of the profession today. Working on classic Ferraris requires a specific culture and set of skills. Supporting the arrival of new engines and new forms of mobility demands different expertise. Few players are capable of embracing this continuity across the entire spectrum.
Yet this is where the credibility of a house like Charles Pozzi is at stake: in its ability to honor the past without being confined by it.
"If I had to sum up this success in one word? Excellence."
Ultimately, if you had to summarize the success of Charles Pozzi Paris in a single idea, what would it be?
The answer comes with a kind of obviousness: excellence.
Not excellence as a slogan. Excellence as a method. As a discipline. As a daily promise. As a rejection of mediocrity. As a desire to endure. As a way of ensuring that after crossing the threshold of the house, one does not leave entirely unscathed.
Perhaps that, in essence, is the true success story of Charles Pozzi Paris: having transformed a historical name into a contemporary experience, without ever betraying what had made it great.
Visuals: Charles Pozzi
