montezemolo Archives

Reuters: Montezemolo denies plans for Ferrari listing

Filed under: Etc., Europe, Earnings/Financials, Ferrari, Fiat

Despite the prophecies that many analysts made last year, it looks like neither Fiat nor Ferrari has any pressing interest in listing the supercar maker as a separate entity from its parent company. According to Reuters, Ferrari CEO Luca Cordero di Montezemolo has said that there are no current plans to list the company, and that while such a project may crop up in the next four-to-five years, it’s not something that’s on the table at the moment. Montezemolo made the comments while speaking with foreign media, and he added that it’s possible that Ferrari may never be listed at all.

Just last year, analysts predicted that Fiat was considering a separate listing for the Prancing Horse. Fiat currently owns about 85 percent of the Maranello-based automaker, though when the reports surfaced, the company said that a separate listing for Ferrari was only one of several different strategies that it was investigating at the time.

[Source: Reuters | Image: Noah Joseph / AOL]

Reuters: Montezemolo denies plans for Ferrari listing originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ferrari’s Montezemolo blasts “pathetic” four-cylinder engine formula?

Filed under: Motorsports, Technology, Ferrari

Ferrari's Luca di Montezemolo

Cylinders have been dropping off Formula One engines like limbs off the leprous over the past several years. Where twelve cylinders once ran soon became ten, then eight for the current formula and plans are now set to switch to just four by 2013. And Luca di Montezemolo, for one, is not happy.

The Ferrari chief, whose company builds twelve- and eight-cylinder engines for its road car division, has emerged as a leading figure in opposition to the new regulations. And while he reportedly initially said his disappointment would not turn to interference, the powerful former founding president of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) has now said he’s looking for allies among other team leaders and engine suppliers to push back the implementation of the new turbo four regulations.

He may, according to reports, find an ally in Norbert Haug. The Mercedes-Benz motorsports chief notes that the current V8 engines are relatively low in cost as it is, not to mention the fact that starting a new engine design from scratch – no matter how cost-effective it might be in isolation – will still cost more than continuing with the same engines already in place.

Are Luca and Norbert right? Is the FIA throwing the baby out with the proverbial bathwater in implementing the new regulations? Or will turbo fours bring only good things to the world’s grand prix circuits? Share your thoughts in Comments.

[Source: ESPN | Image: Giuseppe Carace/AFP/Getty]

Ferrari’s Montezemolo blasts “pathetic” four-cylinder engine formula? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Montezemolo hints at a “very different new Ferrari” for Geneva

Filed under: Performance, Geneva Motor Show, Ferrari, Rumormill, Luxury

Looking for a heads up on what’s coming down the pipe from Maranello? All you have to do is listen carefully to what Luca di Montezemolo has to say. The affable Ferrari chief has a penchant for leaking information on upcoming models before they arrive. This time, he is promising “a very different new Ferrari.”

Different how? In speaking with French sports publication L’Equipe, Montezemolo declared, “You will discover at the Geneva Motor Show a very different new Ferrari that proves that we adapt as the world changes.” Interesting. And while we won’t know for certain what form that proof will take, the Marquis seems to be hinting at something with a reduced environmental impact.

At the Paris Motor Show earlier this year, Ferrari unveiled a California with the HELE system – incorporating stop-start ignition, intelligent engine cooling, variable air-con and adaptive shift algorithms – and it showed the 599 HY-KERS hybrid prototype in Geneva last March. Will the next Swiss salon hold another green showcar for us, or will the Prancing Horse marque gallop its environmental obligations into something for production?

[Source: L’Equipe via autosblog.fr]

Report: Montezemolo hints at a “very different new Ferrari” for Geneva originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Luca di Montezemolo drives the New Stratos

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Europe, Videos, Specialty

New Strados

Luca di Montezemolo puts the new Stratos through its paces – Click above to watch video after the jump

Don’t let anyone tell you that Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo can’t drive. The boss of one of the world’s most exclusive supercar brands recently took the time to hot-shoe the resurrected Stratos around the Fiorano race track in Italy. While watching a brand executive put a car through its paces is rare enough, it’s even more surprising to hear di Montezemolo heap praise on a vehicle without a Prancing Horse on the hood, even if there’s a 4.3-liter Ferrari V8 at the heart of the new car.

Throw in the fact that the new interpretation of one of Italy’s most iconic rally heathens looks and sounds the part, and you’ve got all the makings of juicy video clip.

Have we mentioned just how badly we want one of these? Hit the jump to watch the video for yourself.

Gallery: Lancia Stratos Shows Itself

[Source: New Stratos via Vimeo]

Continue reading Video: Luca di Montezemolo drives the New Stratos

Video: Luca di Montezemolo drives the New Stratos originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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