Autocar UK – 07 August 2019

NEWS

7 AUGUST 2019 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 13

Leiters is cagey

on a successor

to the LaFerrari

We can expect more

specials in the vein of

the Ferrari Monza

the acceleration evolves. It’s

not like driving a diesel. It’s

a turbo that evolves power

and torque like on a naturally

aspirated engine.

“Then it’s a go-kart feeling.

Everything you do brings a

controllable feel to the car.

Every customer can drive a

Ferrari and have fun.

“We have a very special

engineering approach which

combines engineering data

with perceived emotions.

We have a catalogue

of manoeuvres which

are connected to car

characteristics perceived from

customers. So we talk a lot to

customers and our test drivers

are very capable of translating

customer perceptions into

more engineering evaluations

of cars.

“So back to the F8 and its

su cce s s o r. I f a n S F 9 0 i s a ve r y

performance-orientated car

with high fun to drive, the

F 8 su cce s s o r w i l l h ave l e s s

performance [than 1000hp]

but maybe more fun to drive.

More driving emotions, more

c a p a b l e , eve n l i g hte r... We’r e

thinking of some specialities.”

Will you continue to develop

V12 engines?

“We will try and build it for as

long as possible. I am convinced

there is still space for it on

the market and we can do

it technically and manage

emissions. We’re working on

the next EU6c emissions and

will add gasoline particulate

filters to manage this.”

W i t h t h e S F 9 0 S t ra d a l e a n d

the upcoming SUV in 2022,

there will be six Ferrari model

lines. Will you stick at six

in the future?

“No. The company has to

grow. By repositioning that,

you can grow in a certain way,

or add certain models. We’re

not interested in volume. It’s

revenue. Volume doesn’t

interest us.”

Will you make a pure-electric

Ferrari?

“Right now, the technology is

not mature enough. Look at

customer requirements: the

most important thing is sound.

Today, there is also a problem

on range, which for a sports car

r e a l l y i s a p r o b l e m. T h e ra n g e

of a n e l e c tr i c c a r i s e s p e c i a l l y

so if you accelerate or go

with high speed. These are

contributors to sports cars.

You need high speeds and you

can’t limit to 200kph. If you’d

like to remove that technical

constraint, you add so much

weight it’s not a sports car.

“ M ay b e i n a few ye a r s , i t

could be a possibility. To sell

the technology, you need

a big step.”

Ferrari tends to make a new

hypercar around every 10

years. As the LaFerrari is

almost seven years old, is work

under way on its successor?

“It is true that almost every

10 years we bring one out.

It’s also true that Ferrari

only does one when new

technology is available. So we

h ave to u n d e r st a n d w h a t i s th e

te ch n o l o g y we wa nt to b e o n

new supercars.”

W i l l yo u m a ke m o r e s p e c i a l

models like the Monza?

“We want to segment our

offering into four pillars: GT,

sports cars, Icona [icons] and

Special Series. Icona [where

the Monza sits] will be a line of

cars. Monza is not the only one.

We have a few we discuss. It’s a

big success for us, Monza. There

are less technical constraints

with these cars. To drive Monza

is like driving a motorcycle.”

MARK TISSHAW

Ferrari will build

V12 engines “for as

long as possible”