The golden egg has finally cracked. Ferrari, one of the most change resistant automakers, has finally announced that it will bend to the trends of the industry. We saw the change happening gradually when new hybrid drivetrains were placed into the LaFerrari and LaFerrari Aperta and then when turbochargers made their ways under the hood of the 488 GTB. Now, word has come from Autocar that the next generations of mainstream Ferraris will get hybrid drivetrains in order to improve performance.
Speaking at a conference call for investors, CEO Sergio Marchionne outlined the hybrid future of Ferrari, and while we can't say we didn't see this coming, the news is still shocking. Marchionne claims that the next Ferrari, slated to be a successor to the F12 Berlinetta, will be getting a swift kick to its pretty ass via the battery. This marks the first mainstream Ferrari to get such technology, but a full shift will come as soon as 2019. While it may sound depressing to hear that Ferrari's will go the route of hybridization (because the concept of a bespoke Ferrari engine sounds way cooler than that of a pristine Ferrari electric motor), it's likely better than the alternative.
The electric motors will save the sonorous V8s and V12s from getting the downsizing and turbocharging treatment by taking over the grunt work at low speeds, reserving the engine for when the driver gets on the throttle. Marchionne's logic is that the switch will add performance to the current line of Ferraris. Given that many of the brand's current cars are already on the cutting edge of engine technology, it's tough to squeeze more performance out without using tactics like these. Unfortunately Ferrari will do more that just add batteries to dilute its current brand identity. That's because Marchionne has also claimed that Maranello would try its best to crank out more than 10,000 cars per year by 2025.
Ferrari isn't too far off the mark with its current efforts being on track to achieving 8,000 deliveries this year. However, it is the means that Ferrari will use to sell greater volumes that has us scratching our heads. To garner some new customers, Ferrari will focus on adding more comfortable and practical cars to its range, cars like the GTC4Lusso, which is both powerful but also capable of hauling people and cargo on terrain that calls for four-wheel drive. This means that the GTC4Lusso could get some company, although Marchionne stopped short of claiming Ferrari was working on an SUV. We're not sure how to feel about this, but so far our stomachs are churning and appetites have gone out the window.
