Exotic car makers to offer hybrids.

UPDATE Word on the street is that Ferrari is building a hybrid based on the 599 GTB Fiorano, that uses a variation of the kinetic energy recovery system in its Formula 1 cars.

Foreign car insiders are speculating, that folks might be able to feast their eyes on the concept car at next year's Geneva Auto show which begins in March.

According to published reports, the vehicle uses a V12 engine up front with an electric motor at the rear transaxle and a lithium-ion battery. Not only will the vehicle have more bite, but the system will provide it with a start-stop function and regenerative braking, allowing it to offer a 35 percent better fuel economy.

Britain’s Autocar reported last month, that Ferrari has a hybrid drivetrain slated for the successor to the 612 Scaglietti and that we should actually see it in 2014.

11/11/09 Hey…how about this one. Buy a new hybrid that does 220 mph and 0-60 under 4 seconds, and gets 30mpg around town and yields fewer emission than a Honda Civic? It might just happen very soon. Personally, I think the presence of KERS in F1 has turned the exotic and luxury car maker's eye to the concept of more efficient vehicles, as well as a performance advantage for high end sports cars and sports sedans.

According to the publication Globe and Mail , Ferrari will come out with its first hybrid system on the upcoming replacement for its 612 Scaglietti grand touring car. Britain's Autocar magazine quoted unnamed Ferrari sources confirming that the Italian exotic car company is working on a hybrid system that will see electric power going to the front wheels, giving the car all-wheel-drive capability. The system reportedly won't be available before 2014.

Although Ferrari has not officially confirmed the report on the magazine's site, Ferrari CEO Amadeo Felisa confirmed at the most recent Frankfurt Auto show that the first Ferrari hybrid was “likely to be" a V12 model.

Spy shots have since appeared suggesting that the 612's replacement will be the next all-new V12 car from the home of the Prancing Horse. The hybrid system would not be available at that car's launch, but debut closer to the 2015 model year, said the latest report, released last week.

The current 612 offers a massive 5.7-litre V12 engine driving the rear wheels, but this hybrid system would focus more on improving handling and acceleration than fuel economy, according to the company insiders.

But Ferrari is nevertheless interested in reducing fuel consumption and lowering the emissions produced by its products, even though they and exotic car fans in general have long maintained that the limited numbers of these cars sold and the relatively low mileage they accumulate account for a tiny blip in the overall carbon footprint of the global auto industry.

Felisa confirmed that Ferrari's new-for-2009 California hardtop convertible would receive a start-stop system in 2010, which automatically turns off the engine at red lights and restarts it instantly upon letting go of the brakes, which is the system that accounts for the majority of real world fuel savings in most gas-electric hybrid vehicles.

Ferrari is not the only Italian car maker going the planet-friendlier route, while still maintaining its focus on high horsepower performance. Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann also admitted in August that the Volkswagen-controlled company will launch a hybrid model by 2015, likely in the Gallardo, he suggested to a German auto trade journal in August. Winkelmann said Lamborghini was not planning to go the all-electric route, which Mercedes-Benz will pioneer among supercars with its upcoming SLS eDrive, and which Lambo's sister company Audi has recently confirmed it will pursue with an all-electric version of its mid-engine R8.