Ferrari F355 Spider on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ferrari investors want assurance on goals, SUVs on eve of vehicle reveal

MILAN — Ferrari's new boss has his work cut out on Tuesday to convince investors that the supercar maker can hit mid-term targets he described last month as "aspirational." The company's share price slid more than 8 percent on Aug. 1 after Louis Camilleri said he saw "risks" ahead, with investors worrying he may have sought to lower expectations on the targets set by his predecessor, Sergio Marchionne. Former tobacco exec Camilleri was appointed Ferrari CEO in July, succeeding Marchionne, who died from complications following surgery. The sudden change jolted investors who had expected Marchionne to remain as CEO and chairman until 2021, having more than doubled Ferrari's value since taking it public in 2015 and pledged to double core earnings (EBITDA) to 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) by 2022. It also left Camilleri to finish scripting a strategy to show how the company known for its racing pedigree and roaring combustion engines would shift toward making a sport utility vehicle (SUV) and hybrid cars while increasing shipments without sacrificing its exclusivity. "Investors want to hear whether Ferrari confirm the 2 billion euro figure, which was already seen as ambitious and now somewhat put in question by the new CEO," said Emanuele Vizzini, general manager at Milan-based investment fund Investitori Sgr. "And how they plan to expand the portfolio, including an SUV." 'Nurture what he's found' When Camilleri faces investors at Ferrari's Maranello headquarters on Tuesday he is not expected to stray far from his predecessor's script. Marchionne had orchestrated Ferrari's spinoff from parent Fiat Chrysler, positioned it as a luxury icon rather than a carmaker and managed to do what few thought possible: sail through a self-imposed cap of 7,000 cars a year without sacrificing pricing power or its exclusive appeal. "Ferrari is running almost on autopilot ... Camilleri should not take any risks at this stage but nurture what he's found," said Carlo Gentili, CEO at asset manager Nextam Partners. When Ferrari's share price hit a record high of 129.50 euros in June, the company that sold slightly fewer than 8,400 vehicles last year was worth about 24 billion euros. That is almost as much as Fiat Chrysler <FCHA.MI>, which shipped 4.7 million cars. With profit margins above 30 percent, strong pricing power and a healthy customer waiting list of more than a year, Camilleri inherits a business that is firing on all cylinders.

Will this 1966 Ferrari three-seater surpass $20M at Pebble Beach auction?

With a week of lavish automotive events coming up centered around the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August, some of the highest profile auto auctions in the world are about to take place. Hearing about Ferrari Testa Rossas and 250 GTOs going for tens of millions of dollars during these events is commonplace, but Gooding & Company is bringing a unique Prancing Horse to sell in California that could be a record-breaker for the company.
The car in question is the drop-dead gorgeous 1966 Ferrari 365 P Berlinetta Speciale with just 7,900 kilometers (4,910 miles) on the clock that's pictured above, and it checks all of the boxes to make it incredibly desirable. First off, just look at it. The flowing lines and giant, tinted moonroof really make this Ferrari a head-turner. Inside, it has the distinctive feature of three seats with the driver slightly forward in the middle, kind of like the McLaren F1. And what a view from behind the wheel with all of the expansive glass in front of and above the driver. According to the auction listing, Pininfarina displayed the Speciale at a variety of international motor shows in 1966 and 1967.
If the looks aren't enough, then the provenance puts this Ferrari over the top, for sure. Underneath those gorgeous lines is the chassis from a Ferrari 365 P2 endurance racer. The sale claims that this was the first mid-engine, Ferrari 12-cylinder model created from the start as a road car. After touring with Pininfarina, it went to Luigi Chinetti, the first man to sell a Prancing Horse in the US and the boss of the company's North American Racing Team. He sold it twice, but the Speciale has been in the hands of the Chinetti since 1969.

Sergio Marchionne wants Alfa Romeo back in F1

It's been decades since Alfa Romeo has competed in Formula One. But if Sergio Marchionne gets his way, it could make a comeback soon. Now we know what you might be thinking: Alfa Romeo and Ferrari are both part of the same Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group, so why would Marchionne want two brands competing against each other in such a costly racing series? Because technically speaking, Ferrari is no longer part of FCA, that's why. They share mostly the same owners and are run by the same person (Marchionne), but the Prancing Horse marque recently split off from its former parent company and floated its own shares on the stock market. That makes it a separate entity, and also means that FCA no longer has a direct link to F1. But its chief executive clearly thinks the investment is worthwhile. Marchionne has been known to state grandiose plans, but he's also been known to carry through on many of them. So the next question is, if the plan goes through, just how Alfa Romeo might participate in F1? Some automakers (like Mercedes) field their own teams, others (like Honda) compete as engine suppliers, and still others (like Infiniti) as branding partners. Alfa could go either route, but Marchionne told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport that "Alfa Romeo is able to make itself a chassis, and it is able to make engines." Of course, that doesn't mean that it necessarily will. It could outsource a chassis from a constructor like Dallara, which is located near the same Varano circuit that Alfa uses regularly. It could also source an engine from its former sister company: Marchionne floated the possibility of starting a separate engine program in Maranello for Red Bull when it was hunting for a new engine partner, and could ostensibly do the same for Alfa Romeo. "In order to re-establish itself as a sport brand, Alfa Romeo can and must consider the possibility of return to race in Formula 1," said Marchionne. "How? Probably in a collaboration with Ferrari." Alfa Romeo first competed in F1 in the early 1950s, winning the world championship two years running in 1950 with Giuseppe Farina (scion of Pininfarina) and 1951 with Juan Manuel Fangio. It then dropped out, only to resurface as a full constructor team between 1979 and 1985, with limited results. It also supplied engines to an array of teams in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.