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Ferrari is debuting a new car Thursday

In a social media blast across its Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts, Ferrari released a seven-second teaser for a new car that is set to debut Feb. 28. A few subtle details hint at what it might be. Accompanying the short teaser clip were two short sentences: "Tomorrow, the Prancing Horse family welcomes a new member," it says. "Make room for new thrills." The clip flashes several up-close parts of the car including a grille, an air intake, a steering wheel with paddle shifters, a drive mode selector, a tachometer, and the top of an engine. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The engine is the most revealing part of the clip. It appears to be the V8 from the 488 Pista, which separates itself visually with carbon fiber covers, rather than the red covers seen in other Ferraris. If it is indeed that V8, it could potentially align with the report that Ferrari would be debuting a hybrid V8 supercar this year. This would just be sooner than we were expecting it. A secondary intriguing part of the video is the gear selector. The clips shows the normal modes seen on other Ferraris, including Wet, Sport, Race, CT off, and Esc off. But there's a sixth blurry white spot, which could be absolutely nothing, or it could indicate another type of driving mode. What would be important enough to add a driving mode? Maybe a hybrid? All we can do is speculate, but thankfully, only for a day more. Check back for the full reveal and full information on Feb. 28. Related Video: News Source: Ferrari Auto News Ferrari Coupe Performance Supercars supercar ferrari 488 pista

LaFerrari Spider might actually use Aperta name

We've already shown you the Ferrari LaFerrari Spider, but it may ultimately use a different name. Sources told Autocar the topless LaFerrari will actually have "Aperta" in its title. The British magazine also notes that some of the images have file names labeled Aperta. It would be a fitting moniker as the word translates to "open" in English. It was affixed to other special Ferrari convertibles like the 599 SA Aperta and 458 Speciale A Aperta, and it makes sense to bestow the name upon the most powerful Ferrari convertible yet. The previous open-air Ferrari with the greatest output was the 488 Spider with 661 horsepower, which is paltry compared with the LaFerrari's 949 hp. The LaFerrari drop-top will make its official debut at the Paris Motor Show, and we expect it to cost about $1.4 million. Ferrari says all examples have already been sold. Related Video:

Stellantis ready to kill brands and fix U.S. problems, CEO Tavares says

  MILAN — Stellantis is taking steps to fix weak margins and high inventory at its U.S. operations and will not hesitate to axe underperforming brands in its sprawling portfolio, its chief executive Carlos Tavares said on Thursday. The warning for lossmaking brands is a turnaround for Tavares, who has maintained since Stellantis was created in 2021 from the merger of Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA that all of its 14 brands including Maserati, Fiat, Peugeot and Jeep have a future. "If they don't make money, we'll shut them down," Carlos Tavares told reporters after the world's No. 4 automaker delivered worse-than-expected first-half results, sending its shares down as much as 10%. "We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money." The automaker now also considers China's Leapmotor as its 15th brand, after it agreed to a broad cooperation with the group. Stellantis does not release figures for individual brands, except for Maserati which reported an 82 million euro adjusted operating loss in the first half. Some analysts say Maserati could possibly be a target for a sale by Stellantis, while other brands such as Lancia or DS might be at risk of being scrapped given their marginal contribution to the group's overall sales. Stellantis' Milan-listed shares were down as much as 12.5% on Thursday, hitting their lowest since August 2023. That brings the loss for the year so far to 22%, making them the worst performer among the major European automakers. Few automotive brands have been killed off since General Motors ditched the unprofitable Saturn and Pontiac during a U.S. government-led bankruptcy in the global financial crisis in 2008. Tavares is under pressure to revive flagging margins and sales and cut inventory in the United States as Stellantis bets on the launch of 20 new models this year which it hopes will boost profitability. Recent poor results from global carmakers have heightened worries about a weakening outlook for sales across major markets such as the U.S., whilst they also juggle an expensive transition to electric vehicles and growing competition from cheaper Chinese rivals. Japan's Nissan Motor saw first-quarter profit almost completely wiped out on Thursday and slashed its annual outlook, as deep discounting in the United States shredded its margins. Tavares said he would be working through the summer with his U.S. team on how to improve performance and cut inventory.