Ferrari: no F70 Enzo replacement in Detroit

The Italian automaker has directly stated that the Ferrari F70 will not make its debut at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit’s Cobo Hall in January. According to the folks at Autoblog, inside sources have claimed that the company hasn’t determined a date or location for the launch of the car that will take the place as the new halo sports car from Ferrari. However, considering the importance of the new F70 (should they use that name for the production model), it seems unlike that the Ferrari management does not have some plan for when this new hypercar will first meet the public.

The new Maserati Quattroporte is expected to debut at NAIAS 2013 so the decision not to launch the Ferrari F70 allows the company to not trump their own debut. For those unsure, Maserati and Ferrari are both owned by Fiat so the company wouldn’t want to have two big debuts at one show as to avoid having publicity taken away from one debut in favor of another.

This probably comes as a big disappointment for those Ferrari fans who had hoped to see the new hypercar take center stage in the Motor City – myself included. There is no question that the Ferrari F70 will be an absolutely incredible super sports car when it arrives but regardless of the rumors – there appears to be no clear indication as to when this new piece of automotive history will meet the world.

The good news for those planning a trip to Detroit in January for the North American International Auto Show is that 2013 should prove to be a very good year in terms of attendance – both by automakers and by spectators. The gradual recovery of the American auto industry and the steady increase in sales has allowed those automakers doing business in the US to get “back in the black”, thus allowing them the financial resources to put together a big, flashy display in Cobo Hall. There should be a pretty strong showing by all of the major brands available in the US including Nissan (how nice of them to show up) but it will be interesting to see how much of an impact the European high end brands have considering the state of the financial world overseas.

In an attempt to slow the bleeding, some of the high end European automakers might either skip out or skimp out on the 2013 Detroit Auto Show but at the same time – heavy attention from higher volume brands could influence those more exclusive brands to show in Detroit as one of those “keeping up with the Jones’” moves.

We should have more news – both pertaining to the brands showing and the new models making their debuts – on the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit as we get closer to the January show.

Source: Autoblog