Changes have been afoot at Ferrari ever since Sergio Marchionne, also head of Fiat-Chrysler, took over the reins at the Italian automaker two years ago. Reuters recently reported that the luxury brand intends to clear all its debts off its books by 2021, and double its core earnings to 2 billion Euros by 2022 at the latest.
If the plan is simple, the way to get there is a little more complex. To begin with, the company knows it won’t achieve its goal by selling twice as many cars. Instead, Marchionne is positioning the company to develop cutting-edge technologies, launch new special editions and offer buyers more customization possibilities to increase its margins on sales (which currently hover around 30%).
Most intriguingly, Ferrari intends to diversify its range of products in order to widen its appeal among consumers. Seeking to capitalize on two of the industry’s most powerful current trends, the automaker will add hybrid models to its lineup in 2019, and produce a Ferrari SUV likely towards the end of 2020. The conception of the latter model will follow Ferrari’s strict guidelines to preserve the brand’s unique and premium reputation. According to Marchionne, it will be an SUV strongly focused on on-road performance rather than "climbing rocks". We expect an exciting fight for supremacy with the Lamborghini Urus!
As for its electrification plans, the company will ensure that the sound produced and handling capabilities manifested by its hybrid models will align with Ferrari’s tradition of muscular performance; in the view of Marchionne, no hybrid or electric models currently on the market come close to displaying those qualities.