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DETROIT - Fill up your Ferrari at the farm?
The Italian luxury sports car maker unveiled a concept car that can run on ethanol which it said reflected its engineering expertise from Formula One racing and growing demand for alternative fuel vehicles in the United States.
The sleek Ferrari F430 Spider Biofuel, with green stripes on its silver bodywork, consumes an E85 - 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol - mix, a growing fuel blend in the U.S.
Ferrari chief executive Amedeo Felisa said during a news conference at the North American International Auto Show that the concept was part of the firm's efforts to reduce tailpipe emission levels by 40 per cent by 2012.
Felisa said Ferrari had gleaned experience in using biofuel in Formula I because of regulations that competitors use petrol with a 5.75 per cent biomass content.
The FIA GT and American Le Mans Series racing organizations require 10 per cent ethanol.
For the Spider Biofuel, Ferrari made some changes to the fuel injection system and to the engine's computer chip. The result was an increase in power output, with equal weight and a five per cent decline in carbon dioxide emissions.
Ferrari, a unit of Fiat, shipped 6,400 cars in 2007, up 14 per cent on 2006.
Sales to the Asia Pacific rose 50 per cent, with 177 cars delivered to China. Sales to the Middle East rose 32 per cent.
The operating result was 15 per cent of turnover, according to a company statement.
- REUTERS
