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FCA launches Ferrari IPO

It's been a long time coming, but the moment is finally upon us: Ferrari is hitting the stock market. Its parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has announced the launch of Ferrari's initial public offering – almost exactly a year to the day since FCA launched its IPO (pictured above). And with it, FCA is starting the process of separating the Maranello-based exotic automaker and racing team away from the rest of the Italian-American industrial empire. The plan filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) calls for FCA – which owns 90 percent of Ferrari – to float 17,175,000 common shares on the New York Stock Exchange. That amounts to nine percent of Ferrari's common shares. Another 1,717,150 common shares (equal to 1 percent) will be offered to the underwriters of the IPO. The remaining 80 percent interest in the Prancing Horse company will be separated from the rest of FCA and distributed to the parent company's shareholders – of which Exor, the Agnelli/Elkann family's holding company, is the largest, holding a stake of about 30 percent. Currently registered as New Business Netherlands NV, the company is soon to be renamed Ferrari NV. And while it's nominally based, like its (soon to be former) parent company, in the Netherlands, there's no reason to anticipate at this point that Ferrari will move its operating headquarters away from its current and historic home in Maranello, on the outskirts of Modena in Italy's "supercar valley." The IPO is expected to be priced at or around $50 per share (give or take a couple of bucks), which would value the company at around $10 billion. Trading won't actually commence, however, until all the SEC filings are complete. At that point, the company will be listed on the NYSE under the symbol RACE. And whether you yourself are actually interested in trading in Ferrari shares or not, that could be one of the best parts of the announcement. FCA Announces Launch of Ferrari Initial Public Offering LONDON, October 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU / MI: FCA) ("FCA") and its subsidiary New Business Netherlands N.V. to be renamed Ferrari N.V. ("Ferrari") announce today that Ferrari has launched its initial public offering ("IPO").

FIA introduces 'Hypercar Concept' for World Endurance Championship

One of the most common jabs at hypercars is the question, "Where can you drive them to their potential?" Imagine the answer being: to the checkered flag in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We're not there yet, but the FIA World Motor Sport Council took a step closer to the possibility during its second annual meeting in Manila, the Philippines. One of three initiatives the WSMC announced for the 2020 World Endurance Championship was "Freedom of design for brands based on a 'Hypercar' concept." This "Hypercar concept" would replace LMP1 as the premier class in the WEC. The dream, of course, would be seeing racing versions of the AMG Project One, Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, Bugatti Chiron, Koenigsegg Regera, McLaren Senna GTR, Pagani Huara BC, and the rest of the gang trading paint and carbon fiber through Dunlop in a heinously expensive version of "Buy on Sunday, sell on Monday." The reality is that we don't have all the details yet on the set of regulations called "GTP," but the FIA wants race cars more closely tied to road cars, albeit with the performance level of today's LMP1 cars. Exterior design freedom would shelter internals designed to reduce costs, the FIA planning to mandate less complex hybrid systems and allow the purchase of spec systems. One of the FIA's primary goals is lowering LMP1 budgets to a quarter of their present levels. Audi and Porsche budgets exceeded $200 million, while Toyota - the only factory LMP1 entry this year and next - is assumed to have a budget hovering around $100 million. Reports indicated that Aston Martin, Ferrari, Ford, McLaren, and Toyota sat in on the development of the proposed class. If the FIA can get costs down to around $25 million, that would compare running a top IndyCar team and have to be hugely appealing to the assembled carmakers. The initiative represents another cycle of the roughly once-a-decade reboot of sports car racing to counter power or cost concerns. The FIA shut down Group 5 Special Production Sports Car class in 1982 to halt worrying power hikes, and introduced Group C. In 1993, Group C came to an ignoble end over costs; manufacturers were spending $15 million on a season, back when that was real money and not one-fifth of a Ferrari 250 GTO. Then came the BPR Global GT Series that morphed into the FIA GT Championship, which would see the last not-really-a-road car take overall Le Mans victory in 1998, the Porsche 911 GT1. That era would be most aligned with a future hypercar class.

Coming Ferrari hybrid loaded with twin-turbo V8, three e-motors, 986 hp

One week from now, Ferrari and its best clients will gather in Maranello for a three-day event to introduce a mid-engined hybrid supercar slotting in above the 812 Superfast. A report in Auto, Motor und Sport purports to fill in some of the engine details and power output we've been wondering about. The German magazine says there'll be a twin-turbo V8 amidships, the same 3.9-liter unit from the F8 Tributo, aided by three electric motors. Total output will be 1,000 PS (metric horsepower) — or 986 U.S. horsepower, 197 more horses than found in the 812. One of the electric motors will sit inside the gearbox, the other two will reside at the front axles, powering the front wheels. That means we can expect all-wheel drive and finessed torque vectoring up front. With 36 more horsepower than the system output on the LaFerrari, and AWD, it's claimed that the electrified scarlet star will get from zero to 62 miles per hour in 2 seconds. The FerrariChat forum, which has a 77-page thread on this car, settled on these same specs well before the AMS report. Wrote one poster, "I'm in Geneva and my dealer told me the BB will have 1000hp, V8 with KERS." Another chimed in, "Ferr9000 on a Spanish forum ... said the BB front axle will be electrified, so we can assume there will be two electrics motors on front axle." In FerrariChat parlance, the "BB" stands for "Big Brother" to the 812. Another forum member said he expects the coupe to have a respectable all-electric range, which accords with video of a hybrid 488 mule driving silently at Fiorano. The big question seems to be whether this will be a regular production model or a limited edition, with consensus settling on a proper series production car. AMS puts the price at 600,000 euros, or about $670,000. Yet another FC forum member says there'll be a public debut at Le Mans, the French race taking place June 15-16. Could that provide a clue to the name? And remember, there's plenty more to come from Ferrari this year, with a V6 hybrid sports car slated for debut, and two further cars. One of those additional vehicles is expected to be an 812 Spider.