SUV will only happen in ‘Ferrari’s style’
Company plans on ‘reinventing’ the segment AUTOMOTIVE
• Ferrari confirmed it’s considering an expansion into the utility vehicle business by “reinventing” the segment and plans to boost the range of hybrid sports cars even as the company seeks to maintain an exclusivity status.
“It will probably happen, but it will happen in Ferrari’s style,” CEO Sergio Marchionne said of the planned utility vehicle on a conference call after Ferrari reported a 24 per cent advance in second-quarter profit.
Marchionne said t hat “you have to shoot me first” if Ferrari comes up with something similar to SUVs made by BMW, Bentley and Porsche. “It has not been done to compete with Porsche.”
Marchionne added that the company’s board has not made any decision whether to build the SUV.
“That space is too big and too inviting and we have a lot of our customers who will be more than willing to drive a Ferrari- branded vehicle that has that king of utilitarian objective.”
The Italian supercar maker will present a new five-year plan that runs through 2022 in the first quarter of 2018 and it may include an expansion into utility vehicles, Marchionne said. Marchionne said its plant in Maranello, Italy, where Enzo Ferrari founded the company 70 years ago, has the potential to double production.
Ferrari is considering adding a roomy four- seat “utility vehicle” as part of a major expansion push beyond its traditional supercar niche in a bid to double profit by 2022, people familiar with the matter said earlier this week. A fiveyear plan that includes the model would also push an- nual deliveries beyond a self- imposed limit of 10,000 cars, ac c o r di ng to t he people.
The company on Wednesday stuck to a target to boost deliveries this year to 8,400 vehicles.
Manufacturers of ultraluxury vehicles have been shifting their l i neups in recent years to SUVs as demand surged, particularly from Chinese buyers, who generally prefer large autos over sports cars. Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin are both planning their first SUVs, following Bentley’s lead with the Bentayga. Lamborghini will introduce its Urus next year.
Ferrari, which moved its legal headquarters to the Netherlands when it was spun off from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV last year, has already outlined plans to bring out more limitededition models this year to celebrate its 70th anniversary.