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Marchionne could become Ferrari CEO

Don't think that just because FCA is spinning off Ferrari into a separate company that Sergio Marchionne is giving up any control. Not only is he already chairman of the Prancing Horse, but he might also become its next CEO after Amedeo Felisa steps down, anonymous insiders claim according to Automotive News Europe. The dual roles would put the sportscar brand's future in Marchionne's hands, while he continues to run FCA. Rumors of Felisa stepping down emerged in July, but Ferrari never made an official announcement. The reports suggested that he could leave in September. Execs at the Prancing Horse are now working to decide on a replacement, but there's nothing official in place yet, according to Automotive News Europe. Felisa might maintain an advisory role after retiring, as well. If Marchionne takes charge, the move would come just as Ferrari becomes a newly independent entity. The Prancing Horse's necessary paperwork is already filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and the IPO is expected in October. Marchionne took over as Ferrari's chairman last year after Luca di Montezemolo's resignation. As boss, he intends to increase production to 10,000 units a year from 7,000 annually under Montezemolo. Among the projects in development is a revived Dino. Related Video:

EV cost burden pushing automakers to their limits, says Stellantis' CEO Tavares

DETROIT — Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said external pressure on automakers to quickly shift to electric vehicles potentially threatens jobs and vehicle quality as producers struggle with EVs' higher costs. Governments and investors want car manufacturers to speed up the transition to electric vehicles, but the costs are "beyond the limits" of what the auto industry can sustain, Tavares said in an interview at the Reuters Next conference released Wednesday. "What has been decided is to impose on the automotive industry electrification that brings 50% additional costs against a conventional vehicle," he said. "There is no way we can transfer 50% of additional costs to the final consumer because most parts of the middle class will not be able to pay." Automakers could charge higher prices and sell fewer cars, or accept lower profit margins, Tavares said. Those paths both lead to cutbacks. Union leaders in Europe and North America have warned tens of thousands of jobs could be lost. Automakers need time for testing and ensuring that new technology will work, Tavares said. Pushing to speed that process up "is just going to be counter productive. It will lead to quality problems. It will lead to all sorts of problems," he said. Tavares said Stellantis is aiming to avoid cuts by boosting productivity at a pace far faster than industry norm. "Over the next five years we have to digest 10% productivity a year ... in an industry which is used to delivering 2 to 3% productivity" improvement, he said. "The future will tell us who is going to be able to digest this, and who will fail," Tavares said. "We are putting the industry on the limits." Electric vehicle costs are expected to fall, and analysts project that battery electric vehicles and combustion vehicles could reach cost parity during the second half of this decade. Like other automakers that earn profits from combustion vehicles, Stellantis is under pressure from both establishment automakers such as GM, Ford, VW and Hyundai, as well as start-ups such as Tesla and Rivian. The latter electric vehicle companies are far smaller in terms of vehicle sales and employment. But investors have given Tesla and Rivian higher market valuations than the owner of the highly profitable Jeep and Ram brands. That investor pressure is compounded by government policies aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The European Union, California and other jurisdictions have set goals to end sales of combustion vehicles by 2035.

Ferrari takes over Rodeo Drive to introduce F60 America

Unless you own a very special Ferrari, the only way you were going to park on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills today was to walk there and sit down on a bench. Otherwise, occupying the length of the plutomaniac's thoroughfare was everything from a 1948 166 MM Barchetta, the very first Ferrari imported to the United States, to the brand new 458 Speciale A, introduced at the Paris Motor Show earlier this month. A collection of 60 significant Ferraris were on display to celebrate the marque's 60th anniversary as a US citizen, and it was the most impressive gathering of Italian metal we've seen since the company threw its 50th anniversary event at Pebble Beach a decade ago. How about a Le Mans class-winning 250 GTO, the 1954 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe that won best of show at Pebble Beach back in August, or one of the stunning 330 P4 race cars that was part of the 1-2-3 finish at Daytona in 1967? All parked on Rodeo Drive.
The special-est of them all received an introduction from new company chairman Sergio Marchionne, that being the F60 America. Only for the US, with all ten of them already sold for a reported $2.5M each, the F60 America reaches back to early America-branded offerings like the 340 and 375, and US-focused convertibles like the 1967 275 NART Spider, 1969 365 GTS4 Daytona Spider and 2005 575 Superamerica.
Unlike those Spiders, however, the F60 America is a voluptuous departure from the F12 Berlinetta it's based on, with the subtracted top opening up the flex of its hips, pairing nicely with the swell over the front fenders. As we told our photographer Drew Phillips, we're looking at the future of Pebble Beach, and you can enjoy it in the photos above or the rest of the Ferraris on display in the gallery below.