Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Samsung to unveil new folding phones at July event

      24 June 2025

      Capital Appreciation banks on payments to offset software slump

      24 June 2025

      Crypto is becoming a ‘practical payment method’ in South Africa

      24 June 2025

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      Tesla shares soar after first robo-taxi rides hit the road

      24 June 2025
    • World

      Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines hits $10-billion valuation

      24 June 2025

      Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

      19 June 2025

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E3: Behind Takealot’s revenue surge

      23 June 2025

      TCS | South Africa’s Sociable wants to make social media social again

      23 June 2025

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      South Africa risks being left behind as stablecoins reshape global finance

      6 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » World » Ferrari plans electric supercar to challenge Tesla

    Ferrari plans electric supercar to challenge Tesla

    By Agency Staff16 January 2018
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Ferrari will make a battery-powered supercar to challenge Tesla at the high end of the electric-auto market, CEO Sergio Marchionne said.

    The race-car maker, spun off from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, has been expanding its line-up to lift sales without losing the exclusivity of a brand associated with Italian design and super-fast roadsters. Marchionne, who heads both companies, also told reporters at the Detroit auto show on Tuesday that Ferrari will introduce its first SUV, which will be “the fastest on the market” by late 2019 or 2020.

    “If there is an electric supercar to be built, then Ferrari will be the first,” Marchionne said. “People are amazed at what Tesla did with a supercar: I’m not trying to minimise what Elon did but I think it’s doable by all of us.”

    People are amazed at what Tesla did with a supercar: I’m not trying to minimise what Elon did but I think it’s doable by all of us

    A battery-powered Ferrari would give Marchionne a chance to steal sales and attention from Elon Musk, whose Tesla Roadster and Model S defined the luxury electric car market years ahead of rivals.

    So far, the 65-year-old Marchionne hasn’t invested as much as some other traditional car makers in electrification or self-driving cars, favouring partnerships with companies like Google’s Waymo while focusing first on strengthening brands.

    “We do it because we have to do it,” Marchionne said. While there is work to be done, the new plan for Ferrari being released in the first half will include hybrid cars, he said, “so going from there to an electric is easy”.

    Marchionne’s strategy plan will be his final one at the helm of the iconic Italian brand. Ferrari is targeting annual sales exceeding a self-imposed 10 000-car limit that until now has enabled it to operate under less-stringent fuel-economy rules, people familiar with the matter said in August. The goals include doubling operating profit to about €2bn by 2022, the people said then.

    Time is right

    After being sceptical for years about the speed of introducing alternative engines and new technologies, Marchionne said in an interview before this week’s Detroit show that the time is right for a shift in the industry. Marchionne reckons, for example, that by 2025 fewer than half the cars sold will be be fully combustion-powered, as petrol and diesel give way to hybrid, electric and fuel cell drivetrains.

    Marchionne predicted that car makers will have less than a decade to reinvent themselves to survive in the world of new technologies. Premium brands will manage to hold onto their cachet, while makers of run-of-the-mill people transporters will confront disruptors including Tesla or the Waymo robo-vehicle division of Google parent Alphabet.  — Reported by Tommaso Ebhardt, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP



    Ferrari Sergio Marchionne Tesla top
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleInternet Solutions to connect to SA Azure data centres
    Next Article Michael Jordaan behind new digital-only bank

    Related Posts

    Tesla shares soar after first robo-taxi rides hit the road

    24 June 2025

    EV bloodbath in China

    9 June 2025

    Elon Musk to Donald Trump: ‘Go ahead, make my day’

    6 June 2025
    Company News

    Huawei Watch Fit 4 Series: beauty, brains and a battery that won’t quit

    24 June 2025

    Communication costs exploding? Telviva has a fix for UK-SA teams

    24 June 2025

    IoT connectivity management in South Africa – expert insights

    23 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.