Ferrari Purosangue production date outed

AMID a lengthy document outlining the success of its 2021 financial year results, Ferrari has let slip the production timing of its highly secretive Purosangue SUV. The document reveals that the model will “commence production in 2022 with (first) deliveries starting in 2023”. 

Until now, Ferrari has been tight lipped on the arrival of its first-ever SUV. The Purosangue – Italian for ‘pure blood’ – joins a long line of SUVs from luxury and sportscar manufacturers including Aston Martin, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche, Rolls-Royce and others, and is expected to add further profit to the Prancing Horse marque’s bottom line.

Shaped more closely to an Audi A6 Allroad or Subaru Outback than a traditional SUV, the Purosangue will likely pack naturally aspirated V12 power courtesy of the same 588kW 6.5-litre unit found in the Ferrari 812. 

There’s also the possibility the model will be offered with both V12 and turbocharged V8 power, but neither have been confirmed from the, er, horse’s mouth.

It is understood the Purosangue – which is expected to be built on Ferrari’s Roma platform – will likely move to hybridised or even fully-electric power in the future, the Maranello-based brand tipped to have designed a future-proofed platform capable of meeting the demands of an electrified driveline for its high-riding five-door, possibly as early as 2024.

The 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 hybrid introduced in the 296 GTB last June – which develops a meaty 610kW and 740Nm – is speculated to feature as an option in the Purosangue, the model also offered in conjunction with all-wheel drive.

In fact, the Purosangue is also widely tipped to offer an all-wheel drive configuration as standard, following the trend set by the FF and other larger GT models. It’s unclear, however, whether the SUV will use the same complex all-paw system offered in these models or utilise a simpler, more traditional all-wheel drive system commonplace in other brands.

As for Ferrari’s 2021 financial results, the news is good. The Italian company totalled shipments of 11,155 units in 2021, up 2036 units or 22.3 per cent on the year prior. Sales of eight-cylinder vehicles were up 34.6 per cent on 2021 with V12 sales falling 16.1 per cent due mainly to the reduced volume of the 812 Superfast which was phased out over the last 12 months.

Ferrari says all geographic regions in which it sells reported double digit growth through to December 2021. EMEA markets rose 14 per cent, the Americas 21.8 per cent, the remainder of the APAC markets 27.2 per cent, and mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan up a combined 97.1 per cent on the previous year.

Net revenues for 2021 were listed at 4.3 billion Euro ($A6.7 billion), a rise of 26.0 per cent. Ferrari attributes much of the growth to what it says is “a richer product mix more than offset by the negative impact from the Monza SP1 and SP2 phase out”. 

The company is expected to begin deliveries of the Purosangue and the Daytona SP3 in the latter part of 2022 or early 2023.