Ferrari Forced To Make A Major Change

Ferrari was one of the first automakers to respond to the coronavirus pandemic last year byshutting down its factoriesin Maranello and Modena. Since they reopened, Ferrari has been getting back on track withencouraging sales. Despite the disruption caused by the pandemic, Ferrari is celebrating a strong start to 2021. In Q1, Ferrari shipped 2,771 units, a 1.2 percent improvement over the same period in 2020. More impressively, Ferrari's Q1 net profit was up by 24.1 percent at 206 million Euros ($247.2 million).

Sales of Ferrari's eight-cylinder models were up by 8.1 percent, while V12 models were down by 19.6 percent. Ferrari attributes its strong Q1 sales to high demand for the F8 Tributo, F8 Spider, and 812 GTS.

While Ferrari is celebrating a strong start to the year, the pandemic has forced the Italian automaker to adjust its profit forecasts. Back in 2018, Ferrari boldly predicted it coulddouble its profits by the end of 2022with projected core earnings of 1.8-2.0 billion euros ($2.2-$2.4 billion).

However, Ferrari is changing this target to 2023 due to the pandemic. By then, Ferrari will have launched its first-ever SUV, thePurosangue, an important model that will be a pivotal part of Ferrari's strategy to boost sales and profits. Ferrari is also embracing electrification with the launch of itsfirst fully electric model by 2025. By 2022, Ferrari says 60 percent of it's lineup will be electrified.