Ferrari supercar to start at 1 million euros, sources say

TURIN -- The pre-tax starting price for Ferrari's next supercar will be about 1 million euros, people familiar to the matter told Automotive News Europe.

After taxes, the base version of the Ferrari Enzo replacement will cost an estimated 1.21 million euros in Italy, the sources said.

Volume is expected to be limited to 499 units, sources said, which is 100 more than the Enzo. The increase is being made to meet growing demand for the brand in Asia, particularly China. When launched in 2002 the Enzo's starting price was 665,000 euros with taxes in Italy. Today, used Enzo models retail for more than 1 million.

Ferrari declined to confirm the price or volume figures for the still-unnamed Enzo replacement, which is known by its code-name, F150 project.

The Fiat SpA subsidiary also is not releasing any official photographs of the gasoline-electric hybrid, which currently is being shown to potential customers at the Italian automaker's Maranello headquarters ahead of the supercar's world debut at the Geneva auto show on March 5. So far, only two teasers images of the model have appeared. Both photos were in the December issue of Ferrari's in-house magazine.

During an event this month in Turin, Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said the new Ferrari it is already sold out.

More than 900 hp

Sources say the Enzo replacement will deliver more than 900 hp, combining a new V-12 normally aspirated direct-injection gasoline engine with an electric motor, part of a high-performance hybrid system Ferrari calls HY-KERS.

All that Ferrari will confirm is that the Enzo replacement will surpass the F12 Berlinetta's 740 hp. Ferrari said that during testing its HY-KERS hybrid has slashed fuel consumption by about 40 percent.

The system also decreased the acceleration time from 0 to 200kph to 5.5 seconds compared with 8.5 second in a comparable model without the system.

The new Ferrari will have a carbon fiber chassis, which is supposed to keep the car's weight as close as possible to the Enzo's 1,365kg (3,009 pounds).

The hybrid system will add about 150kg to the car's weight - 50kg for the electric motor and controls and 100kg for batteries.

"To save weight, we switched to the carbon fiber used in Formula One race cars," Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa told Automotive News Europe.

He said Ferrari will build the new supercar's chassis in the composite department at its F1 racing headquarters.

Another way Ferrari cut weight in the new car was by eliminating the seat structures. The driver and passenger will sit on upholstery that is fixed on to the carbon fiber chassis. Instead of adjusting the seat, the driver will move the pedals and steering wheel, Felisa said.

In 2012 Ferrari increased global sales 5 percent to 7,318 units, which was a record. Revenue rose 8 percent to 2.4 billion euros and operating profit increased 12 percent to 350 million euros, equivalent to a 14.4 percent operating margin.