As the last of the renowned exotic cars, Ferrari is now wrestling with an SUV. The Purosangue is to become the sportiest vehicle in its segment. But the Italian sports car brand also thinks “green” and is planning to build an electric model.
Their names are Urus, Bentayga, Cullinan and Levante. Hardly any industry expert would have predicted a few years ago that these luxury SUVs would help their brands Lamborghini, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Maserati to significantly increase sales. Aston Martin is currently also relying on the SUV business model with the DBX. There is actually only one thing missing from the group of exotic cars: Ferrari. And anyone who remembers the answer given by former Fiat / Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne to the question about a Ferrari SUV - "You have to shoot me first" - probably had little confidence that the world's most famous sports car brand would ever make such a paradigm shift would. Because Marchionne's successor, Louis Camilleri, did not really like the SUV idea at first. But the mood has turned, prototypes around Maranello are driving photographers more and more often in front of the camera. Probably this year, but no later than 2022, a new chapter in Ferrari's corporate history will begin in the form of the Purosangue (Italian: thoroughbred). The SUV is the successor to the all-wheel drive station wagon GTC2020 Lusso, which expired in mid-4, and is the first Ferrari with four doors. The prices are rumored to be around 300.000 euros. Technically, the Purosangue is based on a new front-engine / all-wheel drive platform, which should also be used for other models in the future. A newly developed V6 turbo gasoline engine takes over the propulsion. Eight and twelve cylinders are left out. However, the customer should be able to choose a hybrid drive in combination with the V6.
Not a pure combustion engine
Apparently Ferrari is also working on a successor to the LaFerrari from 2013. Because it is part of the tradition of the Italian brand to delight fans with a limited hyper-car once a decade. What is certain is that the model - debut around the end of 2022, market launch in 2023 - will have a plug-in hybrid drive, probably the one with V8 and three electric motors from the SF90. This drive layout would also be conceivable with the new V6, since the developers are increasingly focusing on lightweight construction and agility and the sheer number of horsepower is becoming less important.
One of the regularities at Ferrari is also to crown series at the end of their production life with a special farewell model. It would be the 812, since 2017 the most powerful series Ferrari ever built with 800 hp. It is now available with enhanced performance as the 812 Competizione. Around 2023 Ferrari will then present the successor model, of which there should also be an open version again. Connoisseurs of the scene consider it unlikely that the Italians will say goodbye to their twelve-cylinder - but also a hybridization of the V12.
Doesn't get cheap
Fate could overtake the Portofinio (debut 2017) without leaving an inheritance. The luxurious convertible, extensively revised in September 2020 and since then given the designation M for Modificata, is essentially too close to the technically identical Roma, which will apparently also be available in an open version from next year.
What many Ferrari fans lack in the portfolio is an inexpensive entry-level version, crisp, light and puristic. If rumors are to be believed, such a model is said to be in the making, based on the chassis of the F8 Tributo. This is expected from 2023.
Maybe even more Stromer?
A year later, Ferrari will then be launching a fully electric model for the first time. What type of body it is is still open, but certainly more of a Gran Turismo Coupé like the Roma than a racer like the SP90 Stradale, if only to accommodate enough battery capacity in the floor pan. Derivatives of the first Stromer are also being considered. Because, of course, the strategists in Modena do not miss what is happening at Porsche in Zuffenhausen. The Taycan 4 Cross Turismo is already in the starting blocks here.
