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Ferrari: We don’t despise SUVs, but a Ferrari SUV must be different

The head of product marketing at Ferrari has told CarAdvice that although some manufacturers are claiming to have genuine performance SUVs coming up or already on the market, none are at the level the iconic Italian marque would consider to be satisfactory.


Speaking to CarAdvice at this week’s 2017 Geneva motor show, Nicola Boari said the question Ferrari needs to ask itself isn’t ‘why not enter the booming SUV segment?’, but rather ‘what is the basic need an SUV is answering, from a client point of view?’.

“I think we need to start from that,” Boari said.

“Even a luxury SUV, we need to start from that question, along with, I think, the word ‘Ferrari’. Because in any case, in everything we do, there’s an expectation – and it’s quite high – that we will do something different and not the same.

“It’s not that we despise SUVs, per se. It’s just that today, physics is there, weight and rolling and length is there. So, how can we manage the key physics to create something which has the benefit of an SUV but not the bad?

“I think it’s the right challenging question that we should pose our self, not just, ‘Why don’t you adhere to a specific segment, and then try and make it Ferrari?’.”

Viewing any potential expansion into SUV territory as requiring the creation of “a segment which is not there”, Boari said the question of widening the brand’s range while ensuring all models remain respectably ‘Ferrari’ is not a new one for the marque.

“The Lusso and the California came out from the same question: How can we create something which is not there? But answering a clearly existing and basic client need, which is I’d like to have a Ferrari to be driven every day, not just on the weekends.

“So, as tempting as just embracing the SUV as we know it, can be – and even if we should believe what we are hearing about sport SUVs coming out, I think there are already some examples on the road – I don’t think that there has been a solution consistent with what we want to do so far in the market. So, I think we are still searching.”

Importantly, and regardless of what comes out of Modena in the future, Boari is adamant all Ferraris are made up of four main elements: product architecture, vehicle dynamics or what Ferrari likes to call ‘driving emotions’, the sound or 'soundtrack,' and design.

“And no matter if it is a Lusso or an 812, or if it is a 488 or a California too, we are quite consistent and quite disciplined on following this process.”

What do you think? Should Ferrari enter the luxury or performance SUV fray and compete with the likes of Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Lamborghini, Maserati, Mercedes-AMG, Porsche, Range Rover, Rolls-Royce?

Let us know in the comments section below.

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