2006 Ferrari 430 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Fiat Chrysler starts production of ventilator components in Italy

MILAN — Fiat Chrysler has begun producing ventilator parts to help Italy's Siare Engineering boost its output of the medical equipment needed to treat patients during the coronavirus crisis, the carmaker said on Friday. Carmakers around the world are ramping up production of critical healthcare products and machines to respond to the enormous demand during the pandemic. Italy, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in Europe, had asked Siare to triple its normal monthly production as a part of government efforts to increase the number of intensive care beds. FCA said that with the support of luxury group Ferrari and holding company Exor, which controls both carmakers, it had produced the first electrovalves, a key part in ventilators, at its plant in Cento, in northern Italy. The Cento plant is usually used to produces high-performance car engines for the global market. It had been closed because of the coronavirus but has partially reopened for this project. "With the additional supply of electrovalves from Cento, Siare estimates that it will be able to reduce total production time for ventilators by as much as 30-50%", the statement said. In addition to the production of the electrovalves, a team of specialists from FCA is also working alongside Siare staff at their production facility near the city of Bologna. "The objective is to help increase Siare's total production, with a gradual scaling up of daily output beginning from the first week of April", FCA said.

Weekly Recap: Ferrari plans to gradually increase production by 2019

Ferrari has long been known for the exclusivity of its performance machines. It's on a different level than Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes. But as it transitions to a new era of independence from Fiat Chrysler, Ferrari is going to get a little less exclusive. It's by design, and it means a subtle, slow ramp-up of production – a move Ferrari believes will ensure its future by meeting growing demand in new markets. The strategy was detailed in SEC documents filed this month as part of the company's pending stock offering. The files reveal Ferrari will gradually increase shipments to about 9,000 units per year by 2019. This is a reversal of Ferrari's 2013 plans to cap production at 7,000 cars annually, which it hit on the nose that year. Ferrari shipments inched up to 7,255 in 2014, though that's down from 2012's record tally of 7,405. Ferrari is a vastly different operation than it was in 2013. Longtime chairman Luca di Montezemolo stepped down last fall, and FCA chief executive Sergio Marchionne has been overseeing the company since then. Its IPO has attracted high levels of attention from enthusiasts and investors. As expected, demand has reportedly outstripped the availability of the stock, which has an estimated offering price of $48 to $52 a share. Speaking of more Ferraris, the company revealed a limited-edition model this week called the F12tdf (shown above). Based on the F12 Berlinetta, the car is a salute to the Tour de France endurance auto race that Ferrari dominated in the 1950s and '60s. The V12 engine's output increases to 769 horsepower, while weight is cut by 243 pounds – allowing for a sprint to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds. Dramatic carbon-fiber elements and a radical redesign of the body panels give the F12 a more dramatic look. It will be limited to 799 units over the life of the car. If this is how Ferrari is increasing production, we're more than okay with the company's new strategy. OTHER NEWS & NOTES Tesla software unlocks Autopilot features Tesla released the latest version of its software for the Model S this week, which allows the all-electric sedan to drive in a semi-autonomous state called Autopilot. Tesla Version 7.0 enables the Model S to maintain lane position, change lanes by touching the turn signal, and manage the car's speed using an advanced, traffic-sensing cruise control. It also has a parallel parking feature, which searches for open spots and then parks your Tesla.

F1's Sebastian Vettel says mistakes happen but he's not making too many

SPIELBERG, Austria — Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel has hit back at suggestions he has been making too many mistakes to win this year's Formula One championship. The German, a four-time world champion like Lewis Hamilton, was penalized at last weekend's French Grand Prix for colliding with his Mercedes rival's Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas at the start. Vettel ended up fifth after coming back through the field. That left Vettel 14 points behind Hamilton after eight races, with both title contenders on three wins each and the German having started half the races from pole position. "It's racing. There are some errors you shouldn't do, some errors that happen. It depends on the type of error," Vettel, in good spirits, told reporters ahead of Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix. "I've had a lot of races. It happens, unfortunately, at times. I try to minimize it, but I'm not worried. I don't think there is something fundamentally wrong," he added. "I think we know what we are doing — I hope I know what I'm doing most of the time, so I should be fine." The German lost places in Azerbaijan in April, when he started on pole but finished fourth, after he made a bid for the lead, locked up and ran wide following a safety car re-start. In China, a collision with Red Bull's Max Verstappen dropped him down the order, after the pre-race favorite had initially made a good start from pole. Hamilton has meanwhile gone 33 successive races in the points, and his off days have been less costly than the Ferrari driver's. "It's a long way to go, and it's normal some things happen along the way," said Vettel. "Obviously you are trying to push the limits. It didn't cross my mind when I was in Baku to just stay behind, surrender, and maybe wave another person past, just to collect some points," he added. "That's not how I define racing. I tried to go for the gap, I went for it, it was there, and I didn't make it. It didn't work. Sometimes it works out, and it's great. Sometimes it doesn't." Reporting by Alan Baldwin