• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • What do Americans Think of EV Ownership Today?
  • Challenger Fain Edges Closer to UAW Presidency
  • Week Ahead: All About the Cars — Except for the UAW Part
  • The Rearview Mirror: Birth of a Sports Car Legend
  • Federal Infrastructure Law Funds Safe Streets 4 All
  • Hagerty Takes Expensive Hit from Hurricane, But Posts Profit
  • New Headaches for VinFast as Three Senior Sales Execs Leave EV Startup
  • Mazda Appoints Moro New CEO
  • Motor Vehicle Deaths Dropped 2% in 2022
  • EV Owner Satisfaction with Home Charging Declining
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • First Drive: 2023 Nissan Ariya e-4orce AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Jeep Compass Limited
    • A Week With: 2023 Cadillac Escalade V-Series
    • A Week With: 2023 Volvo XC40 AWD Ultimate
    • First Drive: 2024 Subaru Crosstrek
    • First Drive: 2023 Lexus RZ 450e
    • A Week With: 2023 Toyota GR Supra 3.0 Manual
    • First Impression: 2024 Volkswagen ID.Buzz
    • A Week With: 2023 Chevrolet Blazer RS AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Toyota Sienna XSE AWD
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Auto Shows > Marchionne Confirms Plan for Ferrari SUV, Hints at Battery Supercar

        Marchionne Confirms Plan for Ferrari SUV, Hints at Battery Supercar

        “Ferrari Utility Vehicle” will be world’s fastest, promises CEO.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        Jan. 17, 2018
        Sergio Marchionne said Ferrari will produce a sport-utility vehicle, like competitors Lamborghini, Porsche and others.

        There are SUVs, CUVs and, soon, there will be an FUV. And before you try to guess what that means, Sergio Marchionne calls it the Ferrari Utility Vehicle – though considering the disdain some of the brand’s gold chained owners often display, you might come up with a different interpretation.

        Rumors of a Ferrari sport-utility vehicle have been circulating for some time, and after dropping some earlier hints, Marchionne made it absolutely official during a series of appearances and conversations at the North American International Auto Show this week.

        Stay Plugged In!

        The executive, who heads both Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the Ferrari brand it spun off two years ago, suggested that we could see the new hyper-ute by sometime next year or into 2020, emphasizing his intent for it to be the world’s fastest utility vehicle.

        Separately, Marchionne hinted that Ferrari may be giving serious consideration to adding an electric vehicle to its line-up, adding that, “If there’s an electric supercar to be built, Ferrari will build it first.”

        The idea of Ferrari building either an electric vehicle or an SUV might have seemed sacrilegious until recently, but both follow trends that are rapidly reshaping the automotive market worldwide.

        Lamborghini's first-ever sport-utility vehicle, the Urus, made its North American debut in Detroit.

        In the U.S., in particular, utility vehicles of all form accounted for about half of all new vehicle sales in 2017 and continue to gain momentum. A number of luxury makers, including direct Ferrari competitors, have already weighed in. Bentley’s best-selling model is the Bentayga, for example. Aston Martin is working up the DBX ute. And on Monday night Lamborghini unveiled its own, the Urus sport-utility vehicle during a splashy event in Detroit.

        Lambo threw down the gauntlet, claiming Urus will be the world’s fastest SUV, with the 650 horsepower beast launching from 0 to 60 in just 3.4 seconds, and with a top speed of 189 mph.

        FCA already has two high-line brands that have been vying for the title, Maserati first to market with the Levante, and Alfa Romeo more recently launching the Stelvio and then the extreme version, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio. But Marchionne made it clear Ferrari wouldn’t settle back and let those two Italian rivals quibble over the performance crown, adding that whatever the prancing pony brand comes up with, “it has to drive like a Ferrari.

        That’s a tall order, though the latest luxury utes, the Stelvio, in particular, are winning solid reviews for delivering more sports car-like rides.

        Ferrari will be following in the footsteps of other high-end brands with a new ute, like the Bentley Bentayga.

        Exactly what Ferrari has in the works isn’t clear. The FUV, said Marchionne, will be “whatever Ferrari thinks a utility vehicle will look like.”

        (Lamborghini says new Urus will soon have companion model. Click Here for the story.)

        Might that include more than two doors and a liftgate? Not all that long ago, the CEO promised the brand’s purists that he would never approve a vehicle with more than two doors. That even included the otherwise station wagon-like Lusso model. There are, of course, two door utes, so at least Ferrari could stay true to its heritage on at least that point.

        There were plenty of skeptics who thought that a luxury SUV was an oxymoron not that many years ago, especially among performance brands. Then came the Porsche Cayenne, which quickly became the brand’s best-selling product line. The same is true at Bentley, and Alessandro Farmeschi, Lamborghini’s chief operating officer, told TheDetroitBureau.com Monday that the Urus “make up half of our sales in 2018, over 4,000 (vehicles).”

        Since forcing out former Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo, Marchionne has rapidly raised the brand’s self-imposed production cap, now set at 10,000. He could easily do that again with the launch of an SUV.

        Maserati sales - and profit margins - have skyrocketed with the introduction of the Levante SUV.

        As to adding an electric vehicle, Ferrari wouldn’t be the first in its class to get there, either. Aston recently introduced the limited-edition RapidE, an all-electric version of its four-door Rapide model. Lamborghini is reportedly playing with battery power itself.

        (Click Here for more about Maserati’s second sport-utility vehicle.)

        In fact, Ferrari used a hybrid boost system for the La Ferrari, but going entirely electric would be a challenge, Marchionne cautioned, pointing to Tesla. The California battery-carmaker claims to be able to hit 60 in just 2.3 seconds with its P100d model equipped with optional Ludicrous Mode. But that combination is little more than a drag car. The batteries quickly draw down and both the battery pack and motors quickly overheat. Porsche hopes to show that electric vehicles can match the performance of a gas-powered sports car when it introduces the Mission E later this year.

        If it does, expect the pressure on Ferrari to deliver and all-electric model only to intensify. Perhaps it might go with an SUV body that would offer enough room to pack in the size of battery pack a performance car would really need.

        Oh, and as for Montezemolo, who seemed to be far more narrow in his view of anything that threatened to shake Ferrari tradition, he expressed his disdain for a pure electric model in 2011.

        “You will never see a Ferrari electric because I don’t believe in electric cars, because I don’t think they represent an important step forward for pollution or CO2 or the environment,” he explained. “But, we are working very, very hard on the hybrid Ferrari. This should be the future, and I hope in a couple of years you can see it.”

        (To see more about Ferrari’s plans for an SUV, Click Here.)

        We did see it, in the form of the La Ferrari. What else is coming, well, we may soon see that, as well.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published
        2023 Lexus RZ 450e - charging REL

        What do Americans Think of EV Ownership Today?

        Today
        Shawn Fain UAW president 2023

        Challenger Fain Edges Closer to UAW Presidency

        Today
        2023 Nissan Ariya

        Week Ahead: All About the Cars — Except for the UAW Part

        Today

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: