When asked about a Ferrari SUV in 2014, former CEO Sergio Marchionne said “you have to shoot me first”. Eight years later, it has arrived. How did we get here?
After years of rumours, insider reports, official details and spy photos, Ferrari tonight revealed its first-ever SUV, the Purosangue.
Italian for ‘thoroughbred’, Ferrari’s new Purosangue attempts to trot a different path to other super-luxury, high-performance SUVs, with a big V12 engine, low-slung styling and positioning as a sports car, not a family hauler.
While to some fans the Purosangue’s official debut may feel like a long time coming – after many years of prototype sightings and comments from executives – plans for the first Ferrari SUV appeared almost as quickly.
How did the first Ferrari SUV come about? Read on.
MORE: 2023 Ferrari Purosangue SUV revealed
2013-16: Denial and origins
Eight years ago, the idea of a Ferrari SUV was a far-fetched one, regularly ruled out by Ferrari executives at the world’s motor shows.
Long-time Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo – who led the company for 23 years until 2014, pulling the road-car division out of debt in the 1990s, and taking the Ferrari Formula One team to eight World Championships – dismissed the idea, stating in 2013 Ferrari would not build “SUVs or four-door cars”.
“Marchionne wanted to build a truck,” di Montezemolo said in 2013 – referring to the CEO of Ferrari’s parent company Fiat, Sergio Marchionne, who would go on to replace di Montezemolo as Ferrari CEO in 2014 – “but I talked him out of it.”
Marchionne followed his predecessor in opposing plans for a Ferrari SUV, telling investors in 2016 “you have to shoot me first”. Ferrari design chief Flavio Manzoni was quoted as saying in 2015 that if an SUV was built, “Enzo Ferrari would turn in his grave”.
2017-20: Confirmation and development
A year after ruling out any chance of a Ferrari SUV, Sergio Marchionne backflipped, telling media in August 2017 a Ferrari SUV would “probably happen” – before confirming one was in development two months later.
The company expanded on its plans in 2018, revealing its provisional name – the Purosangue – and indicating plans to introduce it by 2020, based on a new modular front-engined platform capable of supporting plug-in hybrid power.
However, Ferrari was hesitant to call it an SUV, instead referring to it as the ‘Ferrari Utility Vehicle’ – and hinting at a lower-slung bodywork and an even sportier focus than its performance SUV rivals.
Whereas the super-luxury SUV market in 2013 was comprised largely of the Porsche Cayenne, five years on it had come to include offerings from Bentley, Jaguar, Lamborghini and Maserati, with Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce following by 2020.
2021-22: The final stage
The first prototypes of the Ferrari Purosangue hit the road in early 2021, clothed under modified Maserati Levante SUV bodywork – and by the end of the year, the first test cars with production bodies were snapped in testing.
Throughout 2022, Ferrari has confirmed its first SUV will feature a V12 engine, likely one of its last in a road car. In contrast to its rivals, which allow their SUVs to account for the majority of their sales, Ferrari says the Purosangue will be limited to less than 20 per cent of annual production.
To read more about the 2023 Ferrari Purosangue, click here.
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