with distinctive new details to create something curvy, balanced and athletic, steering well clear of the boxy look so many cars in this category can’t seem to avoid. The rear “welcome” doors, hinged to open on the opposite side that you expect, add a neat point of interest, while also making better use of the space available inside. Sliding into a low cockpit is such a familiar part of the Ferrari experience, it initially feels odd to step up into a roomy cabin, where much work has been done to elevate the usual Ferrari passenger experience, like the addition of a co-passenger touchscreen and a new 21-speaker Burmester sound system that can target each of the four seats individually. Ferrari is reluctant to call this car an SUV, even if most onlookers will find it hard not to. Since Porsche launched the Cayenne back in 2002, almost every luxury marque has followed suit, making hay from an SUV boom that has shown little sign of slowing. Yet Ferrari, at least on the surface, appeared unmoved, and instead became one of the industry’s more intriguing “would they, won’t they?” questions. What changed? It’s thought that pressure from Ferrari’s most loyal customers at least played a part in the decision. When, they kept asking, was Ferrari going to make a car that could complete their garage? Watching rivals clean up in this category must also have been hard. Now a public company, everyone knew that a Ferrari of this type would fly, and so it has already proved. Ferrari, though, says the reason this car took so long is all down to how the company wanted it to drive. Recent technological advances, it says, have enabled its engineers to create a Ferrari feeling in a car that weighs two tonnes. On the road, it’s hard to disagree. As comfortable as it feels around town, its personality can switch as soon as the road enables it. A new 715hp V12 engine (capable of 0-100km/h in 3.3 seconds with a top speed of 310.6 kilometres per hour) provides the power but it’s in combination with a raft of clever dynamic upgrades – new chassis, active suspension and independent The Rolls-Royce Spectre, above, is the marque’s first venture into electric vehicles; Maserati’s return to the sports car, the MC20, below Facing page: the controversial Ferrari Purosangue steering for each wheel – that the Purosangue comes to life. Ferrari freely admits that the process of developing this car has been a big learning experience and a massive undertaking across all departments, five years in the making. Coming in late, though, it almost had to make a statement and there’s an argument to be made that it already belongs in a super-SUV category of its own. There are diehards, of course, who say Ferrari has sold out, though this position feels increasingly out of time. Brands must surely evolve with their customers, and choosing the right time to leave your well-trodden comfort zone is a necessary part of this process. Meanwhile, Maserati, once Ferrari’s great racing and sports-car rival, went the other way when it unveiled the MC20, its first true sports car in 30 years. With only saloons and SUVs in its portfolio, it considered the new car a “must-make” model to remind customers what it was all about. “We are born in racing, so this car goes back to the roots of Maserati and also represents a new era,” says design chief Klaus Busse. “From a design point of view, you’re looking at the future face of Maserati.” It was a risky move, but a necessary one that breathed some new life into a much-loved marque. Another big step into pastures new comes later this year when Rolls-Royce’s first all-electric model, Spectre, hits the road, so marking the beginning of the end of its 100-year association with the combustion engine. As with Ferrari, CEO Torsten Müller-Otvös decided that the technology had evolved to a level where a true electric Rolls-Royce was possible. Again, its customers played a part, too. “We lead because we listen,” he said. It’s clear that, given the challenges and unknowns in the car industry, right now, it might be dangerous to do anything else. CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 71
