Ferrari to open first retail store in London

MILAN, April 24 (Reuters) - Italy's Ferrari, the luxury sports car maker of Formula One fame owned by Fiat (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research), plans to open a store in London this autumn, the latest to join a lucrative retail network that stretches the globe.

Ferrari, which also reported higher results for the quarter, said in a statement on Thursday it had signed a franchising agreement with Italian retail group Percassi to open a two-level store on Regent Street.

Selling everything from caps to sunglasses to model cars with the prancing horse logo, the stores have proven to be a success since Ferrari opened its first one in Italy in 2002.

Apart from the one in London, Ferrari has 20 stores in cities including Beijing, Las Vegas, and Singapore.

Rival Lamborghini, which belongs to Volkswagen's (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) Audi division, is hoping to have the same retail success with its brand when it opens its first store in Las Vegas this spring.

Earlier in the day, Ferrari's results were published by the Italian industrial group Fiat.

For the first quarter, it made a trading profit of 59 million euros, up 90.3 percent from the same period a year ago on higher volume sales, better selling prices, and lower costs.

Ferrari delivered 1,645 cars to customers, up 1 percent.

Revenues went up 19.7 percent to 456 million euros, mostly due to sales of the 612 Scaglietti and 599 GTB Fiorano models.

Ferrari's Formula One team won last season's world constructors' championship with their Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen taking the individual title. (Reporting by Gilles Castonguay; Editing by Andrew Hurst)