The automotive world is in a tizzy due to reports of Ferrari in serious consideration for producing its first ever SUV. If there's one marque in the world where an SUV would be seen sacrilege by the petrol-head gallery, the Prancing Horse is it. For a company dripping with racing and speed for over 70 years, an SUV, well, simply isn't. I counter that a production Ferrari SUV wouldn't be breaking anything sacred - it actually honors the tradition.
What's the point of Ferrari as a road-car manufacturer? Back in the early days it sold cars to the public not because Enzo Ferrari wanted to, but rather to finance his lofty racing ambitions. That was the ethos. These days, what are the best money-makers in the automotive world? The sports utility vehicle. Ferrari producing one makes sense - maximize revenue from the road-car business to fund it's racing. Perhaps with an SUV the Scuderia will then have the resources to design a reliable engine for Vettel.
People griped hard when Porsche first introduced the Cayenne SUV, but without its sales bolstering the company's bottom-line we probably wouldn't get all the delicious GT cars and the 918 Spyder. Even Lamborghini, Ferrari's eternal rival on public roads, will soon have an SUV on sale. It's a business, and there's immense pressure on these publicly traded companies to steer towards the hot item in the market.
A Ferrari SUV is a complete positive: the extra profits can be diverted back to developing its more sporting road-cars a la Porsche, or pump additional resources into the F1 or GT3 program. Purist need not be alarmed because those with the means and in the know will ignore it entirely and buy the "good" ones.