Italian luxury automaker Ferrari is planning to produce its first electric vehicle — which will reportedly cost over $500,000.
Reuters reported Wednesday citing a source familiar with the matter that Ferrari is preparing to open a plant that will produce the EV model and lift the company's output by up to one-third.
Ferrari is planning to launch the EV in late 2025 and the hefty price tag suggests the automaker is confident that sluggish demand and falling prices for mass-market EVs are unlikely to impact the luxury market.
According to the report, the price tag of at least $535,000 doesn't include add-on features and personalization that can add an extra 15-20% to the car's sales price. It's also well above the average sales price for Ferrari vehicles in the first quarter of this year, which came in at about $376,000, as well as rival luxury EV offerings.
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Ferrari is planning to inaugurate the new plant on Friday in the automaker's hometown of Maranello in northern Italy.
Once the new plant is operational, it's expected to allow Ferrari to boost production capacity to about 20,000 after it delivered under 14,000 cars last year.
While the increased production could pose a risk by undermining the degree of exclusivity that the Ferrari brand holds, the luxury automaker has branched out before with its Purosangue SUV that was launched in 2022 and served as a successful demonstration of how the company can move beyond its traditional two-seat sports cars.
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"There is an increasing demand out there for Ferraris, and they have room to meet part of it without compromising exclusivity," said Fabio Caldato, a portfolio manager at AcomeA SGR which holds Ferrari shares, told Reuters.
Waiting lists for some Ferrari vehicles can exceed two years and Caldato added that the list "is not getting any shorter" and that "being in the waiting list is in itself a status symbol."
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Ferrari's new factory in Maranello will give it a new assembly line for gas-powered and hybrid cars as well as components for hybrids and EVs.
Reuters reported that the new plant is expected to be fully operational in three to four months. Iits source said Ferrari is in the process of developing a second EV model, though they noted that the process was in the early stages and the company may opt against boosting total production to 20,000 vehicles annually in the short term.
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Ferrari's planned EV comes after the company launched the SF90 Stradale, a plug-in hybrid sports car, in 2019. The SF90 was the first-ever Ferrari to have plug-in hybrid electric vehicle architecture with an internal combustion engine that's integrated with two electric motors.
Reuters contributed to this report.
