February 4, 2022: -Ferrari has much of riding on its much-anticipated and hotly debated SUV, known as the Purosangue, to be unveiled later this year.

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna, who was test-driving the top-secret new car, said the Purosangue is “astonishing.”

“I’ve driven it a few times in the hills of Maranello,” Vigna told analysts and reporters on an earnings call on Wednesday. “And I can testify that the driving experience is astonishing,” CEO added.

The famed Italian carmaker is late to the high-performance SUV market, which follows Porsche’s 2002 launch of the Cayenne and Lamborghini’s successful launch of the Urus in 2017. Aston Martin was launching the DBX SUV in 2020 and this week unveiled the DBX707, a 697-horsepower SUV developed on Formula One tracks.

Only some spy photos of disguised Purosangues have emerged online, and the powertrain details, price, and performance remain a mystery.

Ferrari purists oppose any effort to put the “prancing horse” logo on an SUV or crossover, which says it will dilute the brand and the company’s racing tradition. To expand its market and please its current sports car base, industry watchers say the company will have to launch an SUV that looks and feels like a Ferrari but have the added weight, features, and size of a family touring car.

“The Purosangue will be more for our customer expectations,” Vigna said on the call.

Like most ultra-luxury carmakers, Ferrari had a solid fourth quarter and 2021, boosted by the massive wealth creation and soaring values of stocks, crypto, and other assets during the pandemic. Ferrari delivered a record 11,155 cars in the previous year, up 22% from 2020, and said its order book is “the strongest ever,” which stretches into 2023. Revenue surged 10% in the quarter to 1.172 billion euros, and Ebitda increased 7% to 398 million euros.

Despite higher costs for aluminum and different materials, the company’s higher prices and expensive models helped boost Ferrari’s profit margins for 2021 to 35.9%, which is more akin to luxury-brand margins than carmakers’ results.