The Purosangue will be Ferrari’s first SUV and, thus, one of the most important vehicles in its history. Set to arrive in 2022 to compete with the likes of the Lamborghini Urus, it will have to push things to a new level – and even the automaker itslf has admitted that its development has turned out to be a challenge.
The SUV, currently codenamed 175, is one of the 15 new Ferraris launching between the start of this year and 2023. Recently speaking about the SUV with Autocar, chief technical officer Michael Leiters divulged a number of new details about the vehicle.
“The challenge is to open a new segment for Ferrari,” he said. “We always have very, very sharp positioning. It helps to develop cars in a certain, focused manner and easily decide certain trade-offs. The trade-off decision is totally different for us here. We will have totally new engineering challenges.”
Also Read: Is This Ferrari GTC4 Mule Hiding The Purosangue SUV Underneath?
Underpinning the Purosangue will be Ferrari’s scalable front-mid-engined architecture that is able to support V6, V8 and V12 engines with or without hybridization. This platform can also support rear- and all-wheel drive as well as two-plus-two and four-seat cabin configurations. It is reported that the SUV will be a four-seater and feature a height-adjustable suspension and an advanced anti-roll system to improve bot its on- and off-road prowess. Plug-in hybrid technology should also be featured.
Leiters says one of the many challenges facing Ferrari is how it should best develop the interior of the vehicle.
“With space, how can we ensure that there is the right easy, ergonomic comfort on board? How to combine the sporty layout with a more comfort-orientated design? What to do with HMI [human machine interface]? Our HMI is driver-orientated, but how can it be more democratic? What are the comfort features? What is a Ferrari’s pure DNA on a car for comfort?”
“It’s a challenge, an opportunity and fun. I like it very much. Some concepts are close together, but with cars like 175 one thing we want to do is structure the product range and have something different.”
