Even at Ferrari, the holy houses are about: these ‘dreaded’ models are coming | Car

While the arrival of electric vehicles (EVs) and Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) in other car brands is now completely normal, these types of cars are a real shock for Ferrari enthusiasts and fans. In the 75 years since its inception, the brand has exclusively focused on highly exclusive racing and sports cars, each one at lightning speed and almost without exception powered by a large petrol engine with eight to twelve cylinders. The practical ease of use plays no role whatsoever; there has never even been a Ferrari with rear doors.

However, electric drive will also play an increasingly important role at Ferrari. Where 80 percent of the current supply is still powered purely by a petrol engine, that same share must be equipped with electric drive by 2030. In half of the cases, this will involve hybrids, with both a petrol and an electric motor, of which Ferrari already has two in its range.

The other half – so forty percent of the total – is fully electric, an entirely new category for the exclusive car manufacturer from Maranello. The first fully electric Ferrari will make its appearance in 2025, but an expansion of the range without a combustion engine will follow soon. The brand cannot do otherwise: under pressure from international emission regulations, the average emissions of a brand must fall below an increasingly strict limit. Electric models are indispensable to achieve that.

Ferrari’s first SUV – a high family car – appears much earlier: in September of this year the curtain will be lifted from the car called Ferrari Purosangue. Especially in the case of Ferrari, the arrival of such a more practical model is an absolutely radical step. According to many enthusiasts, a Ferrari SUV is like cursing in the church and the brand is getting further and further away from its classic core values.

On the other hand, there are more examples of sports car brands where SUVs have proven to be a welcome and very successful addition. Porsche has traditionally also been a pure sports car manufacturer, but does very good business with the Cayenne and the Macan. Moreover, the German brand already has electric models in the house in the form of the Taycan. All in all, Porsche – at least in the eyes of many Ferrari enthusiasts – is less high on the exclusivity ladder than Ferrari.

The most comparable situation is therefore not at Porsche, but at Lamborghini. The great Italian rival of Ferrari is part of the Volkswagen Group and in 2017 came up with the Urus, a large SUV that shares some of its technology with sister brand Audi. Lamborghini saw sales more than double since the introduction of the Urus. However, that also has a disadvantage: seeing a Lamborghini has become a lot less special since the arrival of this model.

Ferrari says it wants to avoid that effect at all costs and considers brand value more important than sales figures. That is why the share of the Purosangue SUV in total sales should never exceed 20 percent, even if the market demands (much) more. The Purosangue may never even become the most popular Ferrari, which in practice most likely means that a lot of potential buyers will be disappointed. At the same time, it is certainly the intention to increase the customer base with this car. Growth is also a goal at Ferrari, but that should not be too much at the expense of exclusivity.

With the first SUV from Ferrari, this exclusivity is guaranteed not only by a production limitation, but also by the character of the car itself. purosangue is Italian for ‘thoroughbred’ and that is exactly what this car, according to its creators, will be: a thoroughbred Ferrari. That is precisely why Ferrari is not yet combining this model with an electric drive, but the car is equipped with a huge twelve-cylinder petrol engine. Ferrari calls that V12 power source an ‘iconic and for the time being indispensable part of the brand identity’ and therefore wants to hold on to it as long as possible.

Yet it is clear that the role of this V12 and of any other petrol engine will also become smaller at Ferrari. In Europe, this is simply a result of regulations, which will most likely dictate that all new cars must be fully electric from 2035. However, the demand for electric cars is also clearly growing elsewhere in the world. Moreover, Ferrari says it feels obliged to ‘green’. Although the brand likes to show that, as a small manufacturer, it makes a minimal contribution to global CO2 emissions, but does not think that is a reason not to change anything.

Ferrari already took a first step in electrification in 2013 with the hybrid LaFerrari and now has two different hybrid models in house. Both have been well received by the press and customers, but in large part because of the role that the roaring, howling combustion engine still plays here. That engine is missing from the all-electric model that will appear in 2025, so enthusiasts are looking forward to the arrival of this car with fear and trembling. However, Ferrari seems confident and even fully recognizes that sound plays an enormous role in the experience that a Ferrari offers. A fully electric Ferrari must therefore also produce a unique sound, although it is not yet clear in what form this will happen.

Ferrari does report that it wants to develop and manufacture the most important drive components of the electric car in-house. In a new building, specially designed for that purpose, in the Ferrari village of Maranello, not only the cars themselves, but also the battery packs and electric motors will soon be made. Ferrari considers it necessary to develop these things itself, in order to ensure that electric Ferraris also look, feel and drive like a real Ferrari.

It will not stop at the SUV and the EV in the coming years, because many more new models from Ferrari will follow. That’s no surprise, because current policy dictates that models follow each other very quickly and are therefore never produced in large numbers. As in the past three years, Ferrari promises to launch no fewer than fifteen new models between 2023 and 2026. It is important to note that the brand also sees a variant of a certain model, for example a convertible, as a separate model.

The brand also regularly builds a small series or even a unique car at the request of a customer, cars that are also included. This personalization will only become more important in the future, just like cashing in on the strong brand name through things like clothing, museums and theme parks. This allows Ferrari, which is already in good financial shape, to increase its profit margin without altering the magic that is so important to the brand.