Ferrari to someday enter Formula E?
The all-electric racing series has attracted several manufacturers including Audi, Renault, Citroen and Jaguar, whilst Mercedes has an option to join and others have expressed an interest including Honda.
The matter has been discussed at length within Ferrari according to Marchionne, but he said a number of things needed to change before they seriously considered entering.
"The answer is yes," he replied when asked during a Q3 earnings call if Ferrari had given thought to Formula E. "I have agonized over with this with my colleagues here in Ferrari for quite a while.
"I'm going to give you two answers to the problem.
"If Formula E requires people to change cars during a race because we exhaust the power available within a given car, that is not something that Ferrari would naturally gravitate to," he said, although the series already has plans to drop that from next season.
"Secondly, the standardization associated with the electric car is something which runs against the grain of Ferrari because otherwise it will prevent [Ferrari] from playing whatever it is that it does technically on a vehicle."
If the series adopts the changes needed to attract Ferrari, Marchionne said it would still be a few years away from joining.
"If it were to happen it would happen a few years from now," he stated.