Is THIS what Ferrari is going to present on the 22 of April?

Published 2021-01-20 by Peter Ternström

Ferrari has started inviting their VIP clients to a presentation on the 22 of April. What will it be? Good question. Our sources from within the Ferrari system hint at two possible candidates: the Ferrari 812 GTO and a new V6 Hybrid car, a baby Ferrari.

Spy photo by Varryx

Ferrari 812 GTO

Let’s start with the Ferrari 812 GTO. It is a supercar that is greatly anticipated by Ferrari fans all over the world. An ultra high-performance version to the 812 Superfast and the GTS.

This makes a lot of sense, Ferrari has presented GTO models in the past. The last one was the Ferrari 599 GTO. Purists will claim that the Ferrari F12 TDF also has the same pedigree.

I give it a high probability that this car will be presented in April. The model will be a tuned and aerodynamically perfected version of the 812 Superfast. We can expect more aerodynamic features, like a diffusor and maybe a little ducktail, and also an engine that can rev slightly higher and have at least 850 horsepower.

Expect the car to cost at least 25 per cent more than a standard 812 superfast, and the production run being limited to 800-ish units.

As always with Ferrari and special models, it will probably be sold out before they release it. If you are reading this and have not already signed a purchase contract, you will likely find it difficult to buy it.

Illustration by Andrei Avarvarii.

Ferrari V6 hybrid

An interesting development would be the introduction of a Ferrari with a V6 hybrid engine. A new “baby” Ferrari positioning itself a step lower than the Roma. This would be the first Ferrari for a long time to have a V6 engine.

Maybe, however the probability is low, the car will have the name Dino. What is very probable though, is that the car will be a brother to the Maserati MC20.

There are many reasons for this. The baby Ferrari could share the platform and engine with the fresh Maserati MC20. The V6 Hybrid engine would most certainly be the exact same unit as in the Maserati car, but producing at least 750 system horsepower with electrical support.

The orginal Ferrari Dino was made between 1967 and 1974.

On a side note, the hybrid technology is rumoured to be sourced from Honda, who pioneered it with their latest NSX. The NSX was never intended to be a successful end market car. It was a technology demonstrator made available for customers to purchase and Honda to learn from.

See it as a public beta test. The real end customer was other brands that wanted to make high-performance hybrid cars. The hybrid Honda NSX is a brilliant car that we have driven and like very much.

Now, most importantly, the baby Ferrari could be manufactured in the Maserati plant in Modena. At the same assembly line as the MC20. It does not make sense for Ferrari to produce a cheaper Ferrari branded car at the Maranello factory.

The factory in Maranello can produce about 10 000 cars a year. While the entire production output is sold out year after year, a cheaper car with a lower profit margin taking up production resources is a bad decision.

To build extra Ferrari branded cars elsewhere is a completely different story. This would add a few thousand more units to profit from, while not disturbing their existing high margin output in Maranello.

A V6 baby Ferrari on the MC20 platform made in Modena is a great idea. If the price point is somewhere between the Maserati and the entry-level Ferrari Roma, it is a fantastic car, both for the customer and the business model of the Italian supercar brand.

Artist's impression of a future Ferrari four seater.

The future Ferrari SUV

There is a third future Ferrari car that we should mention. The coming Ferrari SUV named Purosangue. According to our sources, this car will replace the existing GTC Lusso line. It will be a four-seater “thing” sitting somewhere in between the Lusso and a proper SUV.

It will not be an SUV. Instead, it will be a car somewhat higher than the Lusso, but not as high as the extremely successful Lamborghini Urus, or any other SUV. Think Audi S6 Allroad and not Q8.

This future car will not be presented this year. The launch date is set for 2022. Maybe Geneva, if they restart the famous Auto Salon. From what we understand, it will share the platform with Maserati Levante and Alfa-Romeo Stelvio. Doing this, Ferrari can do another magic trick: Producing the next Ferrari four-seater at the existing Levante and Stelvio assembly line in the Cassino plant located between Rome and Naples.

This way, they could remove the Lusso line from their precious Maranello plant altogether, and bump up the production of the extremely profitable V8 and V12 supercars. From a purely commercial aspect, this makes a lot of sense.

Can the brand manage a production increase from about 10 000 cars to maybe 15 or 20 000 cars in the future? Imagine 10 000 V8 and V12 supercars in Maranello, with 4 000 V6 baby Ferraris in Modena and another 6 000 SUV cars in the Maserati / Alfa plant.

Looking at the success of the Porsche Cayenne and how little it affected the Porsche brand, this seems like a very good decision.

Will it hurt the Ferrari brand? In my humble opinion, it will not. There will not be a Ferrari on every street corner in every major city in the world. The total production increase is much too small to make a real difference.

Just look at Lamborghini. The introduction of the Urus did not hurt the brand the slightest. Even though the Urus effectively doubled the production output, the world is simply too big.

Ferrari F12 TDF

Finally

Forget the 812 GTO, the Hybrid V6 and the Purosangue SUV. This is not the most important message here. The real news is that Ferrari is expanding. They are most probably planning to seriously increase the production output over the next years.

The good news? The baby V6 hybrid car will be amazing. Imagine a small supercar with a carbon fibre monocoque and 750 horsepower.

With a relatively low price tag, a Ferrari branded baby supercar will be an alternative to a Porsche GT3, Porsche Turbo, a Lamborghini Huracan EVO RWD or a base McLaren. Maybe even an Aston Martin V8. I think this is the plan. We will know in April.

Please note that all car pictures in this blog post are artist's impressions of what the future cars could look like. Credits to Andrei Avarvarii and Varryx for the pictures and renders.