Enzo Ferrari unveiled his first car in 1947, bearing his last name. The 12-cylinder engine-powered 125 S car was light and long and won six races in the same year. It laid the foundation for becoming the record-breaking Formula One car among the most covet auto brands in the world.
The new CEO, Benedetto Vigna, now faces the daunting task of reinventing Ferrari and making it fit for the electric age.
A brand that is synonymous with prancing horses is robust and looks to withstanding the shift towards electric vehicles. This is after seeing Porsche making a successful transition to SUVs after unfounded fear about it straying from its sports car roots.
Ferrari was well known in the early days with its roaring engines and the drama series Miami Vice showing Sonny Crockett chasing the bad guys in his white Testarossa. Those days are gone, and CEO Vigna now needs to accelerate Ferrari in the electric push while reading the industry margins and its alluring brand.
Vigna is an outsider to the automobile industry. The 52-year-old who left ST Microelectronics, a chipmaker, to join Ferrari last year has re-jiggered the product development division, among others, and made their report directly to him to streamline decision making. He brought in two of his former trusted tech colleagues from his former company.
As per Bloomberg News, Ferrari is closing to striking new collaborations as Vigna looks to tackle the deep shift in technology in the automobile industry as per information from a person familiar with the matter.
Many are bullish about Vigna’s prospects already. Morgan Stanley has already picked Ferrari as the auto stock for 2022 and ahead of rival stocks such as Tesla, Rivian, and General Motors, anticipating better sales, margin, and steady growth this decade.
In a report on January 4, analyst Adam Jonas wrote that Ferrari could do well in Asia and attract new customers thanks to its 12-month customer order book and its existing world-famous brand.
There are warnings, though. Electric trains come with a race car type of acceleration, as seen in Tesla Model S. this will take away the performance edge that Ferrari used to enjoy in the gasoline era. Ferrari has also been the slowest to embrace EV technology, leaving behind Porsche, Tesla, and other smaller start-ups like Rimac automobile.
In June last year, Ferrari unveiled its second plug model, 296 GTB, a plug-in hybrid with an 819 horsepower. However, its first fully electric car is not slated to arrive before 2025. The popular Tayca, and its EV from Porsche, have been around since 2019 and surpassed the iconic 911 sales last year.
There is massive interest in its EV from Porsche have Vigna will carry out the Ferrari transition. He is expected to develop more details in June this year during Capital markets day.
