There's A Ferrari SUV Coming, But Don't Call It An SUV

The Ferrari SUV will have ‘hidden’ rear doors and strictly won’t be called an SUV when it arrives in 2021, according to reports, as the Italian brand continues to attempt to divert speculation over the controversial future model using crafty phrasing.

Autocar quotes automotive analyst Max Warburton as saying that Ferrari’s comments apparently denying an SUV project exists are explained by semantics. The firm’s commercial chief Enrico Galliera said:

“We are not producing an SUV, because an SUV is not a sports car – it can be fast, but it’s not a sports car. We are not producing a four-door, because while a four-door can be fast it’s not a sports car.

“Ferrari has to remain consistent, doing what we know to do, which is delivering cars that are able to deliver emotion: sports cars.”

But Warburton claims that the company will get around these words by using a ‘clever hidden arrangement’ for the rear doors and arguing that its SUV, codenamed F16X, isn’t an SUV at all. It may even come up with an entirely new descriptor for it to try to dodge the SUV tag altogether. The term FUV has been mooted, to mean ‘Ferrari Utility Vehicle’.

Having been toying with the idea of an off-road model for a decade, Ferrari would like to sell around 2000-3000 per year targeting growing super-luxury markets like China. Rivals would include the Lamborghini Urus, plus the competitors from Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin. We’d expect it to eclipse the GTC4 Lusso as Ferrari’s most practical car.