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Ferrari Unveils First Supercar in 11 Years Costing €3.6 Million

(Bloomberg) -- Ferrari NV has unveiled its first new supercar in more than a decade, a €3.6 million ($3.9 million) car that’s a futuristic twist on a famous 1980s design.

The new F80 — with a 1200-horsepower V6 hybrid engine — is one of the Italian luxury manufacturer’s most expensive models ever, and only 799 of them will be made, Ferrari said Thursday. Deliveries of the car will start before the end of next year.

The vehicle represents Ferrari’s latest effort to further boost its industry-leading margins that have turned it into Europe’s most valuable automaker, despite only producing a fraction of the cars that rivals make. 

Amid a broader slowdown in luxury spending, demand for high-end supercars costing more than $1 million remains robust. The standard price in Italy for the F80 will be €3.6 million, with prices in other countries to come later.

The two-seater F80, which has a top speed of around 217 miles per hour, is the company’s first supercar since it launched the LaFerrari in 2013. While the supercar term is often used to refer to high-powered sports cars, Ferrari applies it to its limited and most expensive models. Other Ferrari supercars — which are released rarely — include the 1984 GTO and the 2002 Enzo.

The F80’s design was inspired by the aerospace industry, the company said. Ferrari “wanted to do something absolutely futuristic and disruptive, we didn’t want to get carried away with a nostalgic idea,” Chief Design Officer Flavio Manzoni said.

Still, Ferrari fans will spot similarities with the F40, whose flat hood and sheer rear end became so famous that posters of the car adorned the bedroom walls of young gearheads in the late 1980s and 1990s. 

Previews of the model with wealthy buyers went so well that — while contracts haven’t been signed yet — all 799 cars have already been informally reserved by potential clients, Ferrari’s Chief Marketing & Commercial Officer Enrico Galliera told reporters earlier this week. Selling all the cars at €3.6 million each would earn Ferrari a total of €2.88 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna began pushing the company into producing more electrified vehicles soon after joining in 2021. Last month, he said the company is on track to launch its first electric supercar in the fourth quarter of next year.

Vigna is also committed to keeping Ferrari’s product line exclusive, leaning on customization services to boost profit. That gives him scope to raise prices further down the line. 

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.