FRANKFURT -- Ferrari plans to stick to making high-end sports cars, avoiding following the crowd with a sport utility vehicle or an electric model, as the traditional engine growl is part of what customers pay for.
"We've been refining our concept of building two-door sports cars for 60 years, and one of Ferrari's strengths is to have always worked in a coherent way in a well defined segment," CEO Amedeo Felisa told reporters Tuesday in Frankfurt. "It's not that we're not planning an SUV for now -- we're not planning one at all."
An all-electric car also isn't being developed because "one of the characteristics of Ferraris is the sound of the engine, and an electric car makes no sound."
True to form, Ferrari unveiled the $266,000 (235,000-euro) 488 Spider convertible at the Frankfurt International Motor Show. Its V-8 engine propels the car to 62 miles (100 kilometers) per hour in as little as three seconds.