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Ferrari wants more hybrids to lift volume to 10,000 cars a year

Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne is looking towards hybridization as the way of bumping the Italian automaker's production figures to 10,000 vehicles per year by 2025, reports Automotive News. To do this, Marchionne plans to hybridize every vehicle with a Ferrari badge starting in 2019. As Automotive News points out, Ferrari is dedicated to delivering roughly 8,000 vehicles this year. The automaker has plans in place to raise that figure to 9,000 cars by 2019. Raising its volume numbers to 10,000 vehicles a year, though, would require Ferrari to meet certain fuel economy and emissions requirements, which it currently does not have to do, reports Automotive News. According to Automotive News, in addition to producing more hybrids, Marchionne is also interested in producing Ferraris that appeal to a larger demographic, helping to increase sales. As Automotive News points out, the recent biturbo V8 GTC4Lusso T is an example of this trend, being both more useable and less expensive than its V12 counterpart. Performance will still be a priority. The CEO believes hybrid powertrains are a way to "yield additional performance," reports Automotive News. This isn't the first time Marchionne has spoken about increasing Ferrari's production as the CEO hinted at upping the automaker's output to 10,000 vehicles annually back in 2014. At that time, Marchionne also revealed that Ferrari would come out with a new car every year between 2014 and 2018. More recently, Ferrari announced plans to increase production to approximately 9,000 cars per year by 2019. Related Video:

If you need a carbon-fiber-bodied Ferrari F12, meet the Caballeria

Customizing a Ferrari, or any exotic for that matter, is a tricky process. Extreme looks and performance mean tuners and designers can't push the envelope much further without getting into tacky territory. But Spanish designers Bengala have toed the line with the new F12 Caballeria. Based on the F12berlinetta, obviously, Bengala claims the Caballeria draws inspiration from Ferrari's GT3 racers. We don't see it, but sure. The all-carbon-fiber body includes numerous smaller tweaks – check out the vents behind the doors and the new hood, for example – on top of much more drastic changes. The restyled fascia, larger intake, carbon-fiber splitter, and massive rear diffuser are the most obvious callbacks to Ferrari's road-going racers, while it looks like Bengala plucked certain new elements, like the three louver-style vents on top of the front fenders, from other Ferrari production cars. Those are the rear fender vents of the F12 TdF, for example. Bengala also swapped out the wheels for an Alpina-like fan-blade design. If you have money burning a hole in your pocket and dig the Caballeria's style, it might not look like a bad purchase. But be warned, unlike some other noted Ferrari modifiers, it doesn't sound like Bengala made any changes to the F12's 6.3-liter V12 engine. The company's press release didn't call out any mechanical changes, although that means there's still 730 ponies on tap – it's probably not a deal breaker. Like most of its projects, Bengala will only build 10 F12 Caballerias. It expects to wrap up production by the end of summer 2017. Related Video:

Ferrari worth over $11 billion, says Marchionne ahead of IPO

We all know that cars from Ferrari sell for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. But how much is Ferrari worth as a company? At least ten billion, according to its chairman. Speaking at the launch of the revised Fiat 500 in Turin on Friday, Fiat Chrysler CEO and Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne said he expected the vaunted Maranello-based supercar manufacturer and racing team to be valued at over 10 billion euros, or about $11 billion at current exchange rates. As Bloomberg points out, that would make Ferrari alone account for some 60 percent of the value of its parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which is currently valued at over 16 billion euros. That may seem like an aggressive estimate, but we won't have to take Marchionne at his word for long. After having floated an Initial Public Offering on the New York Stock Exchange last year, Fiat Chrysler is preparing to do the same with its Ferrari unit as soon as October. FCA will not, of course, be selling off all of its shares. The projected scheme would have ten percent (worth about one billion by Marchionne's estimates) of Ferrari's shares floated on the NYSE. Another 10 percent is expected to remain in the hands of founder Enzo's son (and company vice chairman) Piero Ferrari's hands. The remaining 80 percent is slated to be distributed among Fiat Chrysler's existing stakeholders.