What We Know About Ferrari's First SUV, The Purosangue

Back in 2016, Sergio Marchionne, the late automotive titan who was then chairman of Ferrari, balked at the sports car icon building an SUV. When the idea was floated in a bid to boost profits, he famously said, “You have to shoot me first.”

Thankfully it didn’t come to that, but before Marchionne passed away in 2018, he conceded that the marque would indeed give in to the great automotive engorgement, along with seemingly every other luxury outfit. It’s been a long time coming with not many details, but as Road & Track reported this week, we now have some clear footage of the SUV on Ferrari’s test track.

The Ferrari SUV will reportedly be called the Purosangue, which the magazine translates to “thoroughbred” or “pure blood” in English. In the three-minute video posted on YouTube by the user Varryx, what appears to be the upcoming sport utility vehicle disguised in camouflage is seen speeding around the automaker’s track in Italy and looking fast enough to bear the Prancing Horse insignia.

For those who have been waiting for a Ferrari alternative to SUVs like the Lamborghini Urus or the newer Aston Martin DBX, there’s not much to go on here, but there are a few details that have leaked out since Marchionne called it not an SUV, but an FUV — that is, a Ferrari Utility Vehicle — in 2018.

As Auto Express in the U.K. reported, the Purosangue will potentially share a platform with the Roma grand tourer which Ferrari unveiled in 2019, meaning we are definitely in the smaller crossover territory, though any SUV style is going to be odd sizing for the automaker. As for when we can see it without the camo, Road & Track expects a debut sometime this year for a 2022 model, but because of coronavirus delays throughout the automotive sector, we wouldn’t be surprised if the unveiling takes a little longer.

Now for the big question: price. As Car and Driver estimated, “Expect to need a hedge-fund manager’s salary to afford such a ride, of course; prices could start as high as $350,000.”

Oh, and don’t expect the Purosangue name to necessarily stick, either. With a development time this long and a luxury SUV market that is now good and saturated, Ferrari is going to be fine-tuning everything in order to capitalize on a vehicle it never thought it would make.