- Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna credited Tesla for accelerating progress in EV production.
- Ferrari is an "emotional car" while Tesla is a "functional car," he said.
Controversies aside, no one can say that Tesla's CEO Elon Musk doesn't have a talent for getting things moving. And Tesla certainly got things moving for the electrification of the automotive industry, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna told Bloomberg.
"The big contribution that Tesla has made to the automotive industry?" Vigna said in an interview published on February 13th. "It was a wake-up call. Things used to happen too slowly. Tesla shook up the industry and accelerated processes and decisions."
Vigna joined the luxury automaker as CEO in September of 2021, after working at semiconductor manufacturing corporation STMicroelectronics.
While Vigna credited Tesla for its agility, he also stressed the differences between a Tesla and a Ferrari.
"There are functional cars that have the goal of moving people from point A to point B, emitting zero carbon dioxide. You don't care about its brand; what really matters is that it moves you," he said. "Separately, there are emotional cars that give you a unique driving experience, like Ferraris."
Ferrari plans to unveil its first full electric car in 2025. While investing in electric cars, it will "keep offering a mix of technology for as long as it's feasible. That means internal combustion engines, hybrids and fully electric models," Vigna said.
The company unveiled its first ever SUV, the combustion engine powered Purosangue — "thoroughbred" in Italian — in September of 2022.
As "functional" electric cars, to use Vigna's words, become more and more popular, luxury automakers like Ferrari are getting ready to enter the market.
Rolls Royce is expected to roll out its first EV, the two-door Spectre, at around $400,000 in late 2023, while Cadillac will start production of its $300,000 Celestiq in December 2023.