1996 Ferrari 355 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ferrari to launch new model every year, keep production limited

You've no doubt perused the big news coming out of Fiat-Chrysler's headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI today. But at the end of the brand discussions, Sergio Marchionne spoke briefly about an incredibly important, low-volume part of the Fiat-Chrysler empire: Ferrari.
"You do need one of these cars in your driveway," Marchionne joked. And while other brand heads today lined out detailed plans for future product, Sergio's words about Ferrari's next five years were very simple, and very vague.
Marchionne confirmed that Ferrari will launch a new car every year between now and 2018. The cars will have a four-year lifecycle, after which, "M" versions will be produced, with a separate four-year cadence. No specific models were mentioned during Marchionne's presentation.

Buy Ferrari's F1 motorhomes and start your own Scuderia [w/videos]

The single-seat racecars themselves may be the most impressive bits of machinery a Formula One team brings to the circuit, but the vehicles you see on the track are not the end of the story. The trucks in which they're transported and which serve as mobile bases for the team's trackside operations are almost as impressive in their own right, and now a pair of these tractor-trailers are available for sale. Only they're not from just any team – they're from Scuderia Ferrari. This pair of transporters include two scarlet red Iveco Stralis tractors and a pair of matching custom trailers made by AstaCar in Reggio Emilia, just 45 minutes down the autostrada from Maranello. One trailer was made to transport the F1 cars, and the other as a mobile office and repair shop. They can deploy once parked to a height of 23 feet for two floors and cover an area of over 2,000 square feet. The trailers were commissioned by Ferrari back in 2003 during the height of the Michael Schumacher era. They were used by the team as its rolling base of operations and trackside hospitality at grands prix across Europe for ten years, upgraded incrementally along the way until they were replaced halfway through last season. They've even still got the nameplates of former team principal Stefano Domenicali and drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa on the doors. The constructor is putting them up for sale, and while they wouldn't disclose for publication how much they're asking for the pair, commissioning a new setup like this one – complete with tractors, trailers and all the fixins – would set you back a cool ˆ2 million (about $2.5 million at today's rates) plus applicable taxes. Whether they're worth less than that now for their wear or whether the championships and race wins that were orchestrated from these rolling pieces of racing history make them even more valuable is a matter the buyer will need to negotiate with the seller, but you're invited to scope 'em out on the sale page and in the images above, as well as the videos of the manufacturer's work below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Lamborghini caps 2020 production at 8,000 to preserve cachet, resale values

Lamborghini chairman and CEO Stefano Domenicali told Car Advice that the Sant'Agata Bolognese automaker will cap production at 8,000 cars in 2020. Even though the cap doesn't take effect for a year, it has caught us by surprise — we didn't realize just how well Lamborghini is doing. In 2010, Lamborghini sold 1,302 cars worldwide, while its rival in Modena sold 6,461 units. Last year, Lamborghini broke all of its records on the way to a 51 percent sales increase and 5,750 cars delivered. The cap maintains two post-sale hallmarks required to fuel Lamborghini's new-car sales: exclusivity and resale values. Ferrari has led the way with public declarations of voluntary caps to maintain brand cachet, and Lamborghini's happy to shadow that leader. Domenicali, an ex-Ferrari man, didn't miss an opportunity to put the running bull's nose ahead of the prancing horse's in his comments, though. He told the Australian publication, "I can also say that for us, Ferrari has always been a reference ... as well as others in the super sports car segment, but we have already achieved higher residual values for our cars, especially with some of our older models." The boss marked out half the 2020 allotment for the Urus, two-thirds of the remainder for the Huracan, and the rest for the Aventador. We expect any 2020 cap to apply only to 2020, though. If Lamborghini can hustle a 40 percent increase in deliveries this year — 2,300 more units, and that's not outside the realm of possibility since this is the first full year of Urus sales — then in 2019 the carmaker will exceed the 2020 cap by 50 units. In such case, shrinking supply next year would help sustain the lather of acolytes, as well as copy another page from Ferrari's handbook. In 2013, then-Ferrari CEO Luca Montezemolo held production to under 7,000 units, after building 7,318 cars in 2012. In 2014, then-Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne said he'd stick to the "willful and intended" 7,000-unit cap. But when Ferrari announces its 2018 results soon, we expect uncapped shipments to exceed 9,000 units. Other upward pressures on Lamborghini's sales would be the success of the Huracan GT3 EVO, which won the GTD class in the weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona, a year after the Huracan GT3 won in 2018. Lamborghini Squadra Corse has built more than 200 customer racers, and no one would rule out a few more orders phoned in on Monday.