Ferrari Intends To Continue With Its Short Model Life Cycles

Ferrari says it will continue its quick turnaround of new models in a bid to boost engagement with its customer base.

The Italian car manufacturer has, in recent years, sped up the life cycle of its models. For example, the F8 Tributo launched just four years after the 488 GTB.

One might attribute this to McLaren’s practice for launching all-new models frequently, with the 720S, for example, arriving just three years after the 650S, although admittedly the latter was a heavily revised MP4-12C.

Also Read: Ferrari Explains Why The F8 Tributo Doesn’t Have A New Platform

However, Ferrari Middle East chief executive Dieter Knechtel told Motoring at the Australian launch of the F8 Tributo that this isn’t the case.

“We love our competitors and we think competition is always healthy. It’s good for everybody,” he said. “We are looking at what the other brands are doing, but this is not the reason for faster model turnaround. We want to take opportunities in the market if we have the chance to take them. We’re diversifying the model range in areas where we haven’t previously been in the past. Out of this, we’ve announced a model plan that takes us out to 2022. There’s a reason behind all this. We believe we can engage and attract more people to the brand, new people to the brand.”

The F8 Tributo features the same 3.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8 as the Ferrari 488 Pista and pumps out an impressive 710 HP and 568 lb-ft (770 Nm) of torque. It accelerates to 62 mph (100 km/h) in a blistering 2.9 seconds, 124 mph (200 km/h) in 7.8 seconds, and tops out at 211 mph (340 km/h).