Ferrari SUV Codename: F16X
Dubbed as the “father of American literature,” Mark Twain was clever with the way he used words. He knew precisely what he was talking about when he wrote that there’s a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable. A Ferrari SUV has been heralded as an unfortunate impossibility for the luxury SUV loving public until now.
In response to the idea of Ferrari producing an SUV, Sergio Marchionne Ferrari CEO, in February 2016 is reported to have said: “You have to shoot me first”. In an interview with Business Insider in May 2016, Flavio Manzoni Ferrari Head of Design echoed similar sentiments stating that: “For Ferrari, we are not followers. We make sports cars. If we are fighting every day to lower the center of gravity, to position the engine as far down, and as balanced as possible, and improve the performance, why do we have to make an SUV?”
But, in light of the success of, and the direction the luxury SUV market is going, Ferrari’s staunch resistance seems a little baffling especially since according to Marchionne “everybody knows that if Ferrari did an SUV it could sell it”. Regardless it seems as if they have had a change of heart and rumors of an SUV are rampant. According to CAR magazine, the Ferrari SUV codename: F16X, is in the works. It is being built alongside the next generation GTC4Lusso and should make its appearance in 2021.
CAR’s sources also let on that the F16X will offer a V8 petrol or hybrid powertrain and will cost in excess of $340,000. This is more than double the cost of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo/Turbo S and thousands of dollars above the rumored $200,000 price of Lamborghini’s 2019 Urus which will also offer a V8 hybrid powertrain.
Sergio Marchoinne’s influence at Ferrari is extensive and his contribution to the company will most definitely be missed when he retires as CEO in 2019. Curious that, a mere two years before the F16X’s purported debut.
Up next, Ferrari offers the 812 Superfast in, wait for it, Pink! Just remember you heard it here first.
