The famous prancing horse is set to gallop across India. The world's foremost supercar maker, Ferrari, will kick off an arduous tour of the country - spanning more than 10 states and 13,000 kilometres - on Monday.
Chairman of the Tata Group Ratan Tata will flag off the Magic India Discovery Tour from the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai. Vice-chairman of Fiat (Ferrari's mother company) John Elkann will also grace the occasion.
Although Ferrari has conducted similar tours across the world, this will be the first time that the Formula One winning company is embarking on such a tour of India.
Two 612 Scagliettis, the Ferrari grand tourer model powered by a 540 bhp V12 motor, will cover the 12-stage, 72-day journey across various Indian cities.
From Mumbai, the cars will proceed to Goa, Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Varanasi, Khajuraho, Lucknow, New Delhi and other towns before returning to Mumbai on May 8.
Rajeev Kapoor, CEO and president, Fiat India, said, "This is a marathon brand building exercise by Ferrari in India. Although the company does not have any sales plans for its cars this year, the company is testing market conditions."
Although the company has not announced its official entry into the country, one can buy a Ferrari from a private dealer in Mumbai, which will be directly imported from its production base in Italy.
Last year, Tata Motors had signalled to the iconic brand that it can provide logistic and distribution support to models of Ferrari through its joint venture with Fiat.
Most Ferrari models can be available for Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) and above after payment of hefty import duties. Fiat's other premium brand, Alfa Romeo, will be launching one of its models here before December.
Many experts believe that Fiat's plan of exposing these premium brands in India is to rebuild the tarnished image of Fiat among Indian buyers.
Such marathons are not new for Ferrari. For its 60th anniversary last year, a fleet of Ferraris took part in a relay which started in Abu Dhabi and ended at the Ferrari headquarters in Maranello.
In 2005, two 612 Scagliettis were taken on a 15,000-mile tour through China, and recently, a pair of 599 GTB Fioranos went from the beaches of Brazil to the east coast of the US.
For spare parts and assistance, the two Ferraris will be accompanied by eight support vehicles. These include the 500 and the Bravo, the two Fiat models which are going to be sold in the country, five Tata vehicles and a monstrous Iveco truck.
The cavalcade will be supported by technical assistance and logistics teams.
