With Luca di Montesemolo at the helm of Ferrari, an SUV wearing a Prancing Horse badge was never going to happen. But ever since he stepped aside and FCA boss Sergio Marchionne took over the reins of the Italian carmaker, it became a distinct possibility. Car Magazine is now reporting that Ferrari has succumbed to buyers' insatiable demand for crossovers and is actively working on a soft-roader. More details will be provided in the mag's July edition, and for the record Ferrari denies the model is an SUV despite it being exactly that.

Codenamed F16X, the off-roading supercar will be built alongside the GTC4 Lusso's successor, and go up against the likes of the Lamborghini Urus and Aston Martin DBX when it hits the streets in 2021. We've seen renderings of a Ferrari crossover before, but Car Mag has penned its own interpretation, courtesy of artist Andrei Avarvarii, based on its assumption that it will be "a five-door, high-riding coupe." Project F16X will be twinned with Ferrari's shooting brake replacement that will arrive in 2020, utilizing the same all-wheel-drive system and aluminum architecture.

It will stand taller than the next-gen FF/Lusso, with suicide rear doors and no B-pillars, providing easy access to the rear. Power will come from a V8 gasoline or indeed a hybrid unit - Car says there'll be no V12 option - which will make it the first gas-electric Ferrari since the LaFerrari. Carrying a price tag in the region of $350,000, the Ferrari 4x4 will help the firm double sales to around 16,000 units a year by the start of the next decade.