Ferrari, the sports car maker synonymous with roaring petrol engines, welcomes the shift to electric powertrains and is confident of retaining its lead in the market for high-performance cars, its chairman said on Monday.
The European Union last month proposed an effective ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 as part of its measures to combat global warming, posing a challenge to automakers that have made powerful engines a key selling point.
But Ferrari Chairman and acting CEO John Elkann told analysts on Monday the company known for its ‘Prancing Horse’ logo saw the change in technology as an opportunity.
“We see the regulation as welcome,” Elkann said, as Ferrari stuck to its main 2021 targets after reporting second-quarter core profits just ahead of expectations.
“The opportunity set by electrification, electronics, and other technologies that are coming available will allow us to make even more distinct and unique products,” he said.
Elkann, the scion of Italy’s Agnelli family which controls Ferrari through its investment company Exor, was speaking weeks before new CEO – technology industry veteran Benedetto Vigna – takes the helm on Sept. 1.
One of Vigna’s tasks could be to forge new partnerships, along the lines of Ferrari’s existing tie-up with Britain’s Yasa, now part of Daimler, to help with the shift to an electric era, Elkann said.