Soon, every Ferrari will be a hybrid
Even the storied supercar manufacturer can't outrun the tide.
If Ferrari wants to make more money, it needs to sell more cars. If it wants to sell more cars, it needs to get its green on, which is why the company will sell only hybrids after 2019.
Sergio Marchionne, CEO of both Ferrari and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, said that the whole of Ferrari's lineup will incorporate hybridization after 2019, Automotive News reports. At the same time, Marchionne believes Ferrari's annual sales could move from its current 8,000 units per year to more than 10,000 in a decade's time.
Right now, if Ferrari wanted to sell more than 10,000 a year, it might not be able to. It's not a production issue, but rather one of emissions. Over that five-digit hump lie additional fuel economy and emissions requirements that Ferrari currently avoids by selling fewer cars. If it wants to grow, it needs to adapt to those regulations, and the easiest way to do so is to jam some electricity into the equation.
Ferrari sells just one hybrid at the moment -- or rather, it did, before the seven-figure LaFerrari hybrid hypercar sold out. It began a slow crawl away from large displacement, naturally aspirated engines with the introduction of turbocharged units in the California T, 488 GTB and GTC4Lusso T models. Future models will likely continue the trend of downsizing and turbocharging until hybrids take over.
LaFerrari's hybrid system isn't exactly green. Instead of being used to save gas by operating with the engine off, LaFerrari's electrified components exist solely to fill gaps in the V12 engine's torque band. With an electric motor's ability to generate instantaneous torque, there's certainly no concern that post-2019 Ferraris will suddenly become boring.
