Ferrari Purosangue SUV car keys.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Ferrari’s The first electric car will cost at least $535,000, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the luxury carmaker prepares to open a factory to produce the model and could boost group production by as much as a third.
The Italian brand known for its roaring gasoline engines says it will launch an electric car by the end of next year, and the planned price points to confidence even as mass-market rivals slash EV sales. Super rich drivers are ready.
The price tag (excluding features and personal touches that typically add 15-20 percent) is well above the average price (including extras) of an electric car from Ferrari and many rival luxury cars in the first quarter of this year of about $376,000.
In a less exclusive market segment, Porsche’s The electric Taycan starts at about $107,500.
Ferrari did not respond to requests for comment on the price of its first electric car or the new factory it will inaugurate on Friday in its hometown of Maranello in northern Italy.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the factory, or electronics building, was a bold move for the company, which delivered fewer than 14,000 vehicles last year but would eventually increase production capacity to 20,000. Cars or so.
Exclusivity undergirds the brand’s prestige, as well as its high price, so any increase in production comes with risks.
However, Ferrari has shown with the 2022 Purosangue SUV that it can succeed beyond traditional two-seat sports cars and grand tourers.
Fabio Caldato, portfolio manager at AcomeA SGR, which owns Ferrari shares, said: “Demand for Ferrari is growing and they have room to meet some of that demand without compromising exclusivity.”
Waiting lists for some models can be as long as two years.
“The time is not getting shorter. Being on the waiting list is a status symbol in itself,” Cardato said, pointing to an increase in potentially wealthy clients in emerging markets such as India and the Middle East.
The second electric vehicle model
The new plant in Maranello will provide Ferrari with an additional vehicle assembly line and will produce gasoline and hybrid cars as well as new electric vehicles, as well as parts for hybrid and electric vehicles.
It will be fully operational within three to four months, sources said.
A second electric vehicle model is also in development, the sources said, adding that the process was still in its early stages and the company may not want to increase overall production to 20,000 vehicles per year, at least in the short term.
Chief Executive Benedetto Vigna told Ferrari shareholders in April that “the state-of-the-art factory will ensure our flexibility and technical capabilities exceed our needs in the coming years.”
Sources say any increase in production will be accompanied by an increase in models, as Ferrari will stick to its policy of keeping production within certain limits for any model, no matter how successful.
Rival Lamborghini plans to start selling its first electric model in 2028.
Mediobanca analyst Andrea Balloni said he expected Ferrari’s new electric cars to have higher price tags to help preserve profits and compensate for the development of new all-electric technology and a large number of externally sourced parts.
“I expect the new electric car to be a niche model, accounting for just over 10% of annual sales,” Balloni said, adding that Ferrari’s core customers still prefer gasoline models.
