BOLOGNA – There is a threatening scratch on the map of the Motor Valley, the mark of an American-Chinese claw that marks the territory. An area the size of 33 football fields that wants to rewrite history and excite the most curious. A stone’s throw from Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Pagani and Dallara, a factory is about to be born that promises a thousand jobs and a round of money capable of stoking the Emilia Romagna Region which always looks to excellence as medals for put on the chest.
The US engineering firm Silk-EV and the Chinese auto giant Faw (the partner of the Volkswagen Group beyond the Great Wall) have allied themselves to invade the heart of world motoring excellence, and have strategically chosen where to settle, to two steps from the exit of the Autostrada del Sole in Reggio Emilia, attached to the High Speed stop, a few kilometers from a couple of universities that are churning out engineers in the region, and from the most qualified professional institutes in Italy, L ‘ Aldini Valeriani of Bologna and Corni of Modena who have always made the fortune of local motoring excellence.
The plans are so aggressive that they cannot be underestimated: a factory, a Style Center and a management center for an attack like never before, moreover moving from Italy where foreign car companies had never managed to create to their plants if not acquiring something already existing.
The choice of the Motor Valley is therefore not accidental: there is everything you need, the skills, the culture, the expert manpower; and with large capital available and clear projects it was not difficult to attract the best minds, moreover all Italians because to build dream cars you need someone who knows how to do them.
At the head of the design was Walter de Silva, a blessed pencil capable of winning the title of “Car of the Year” with five of his different cars. He will go back and forth from his Munich where he has taken root, but he is gathering his most loyal men, now scattered all over the world, to settle them on a permanent basis in Reggio Emilia to raise a large group of young people who will learn quickly. to draw the best.
But cars, especially those with very high performance, must not only be beautiful but must also amaze for their behavior on the road. Here then is the brilliant Roberto Fedeli who commanded everything, who won in Ferrari (his California in 2008 was fantastic) and then moved to the FCA Research Center in Turin, giving life in particular to a car with unattainable driveability like the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Under him, in charge of product development, is Carlo Della Casa who had been blown to Lamborghini where he had been technical director for two years and after five years of creating road McLarens. At his side Davide Montosi, software genius with 9 years in McLaren and 10 in Ferrari behind him. In short, they all come from the best, such as Katia Bassi, a Bocconian, a managing director with a lot of experience in Ferrari, in Aston Martin and finally in Lamborghini where she was the first woman to join the board of directors. Finally, there is none other than Amedeo Felisa who was a consultant to Jonathan Krane (Chairman & CEO of Silk-FAW).
Here, a staff like this can only think big, about aggressive cars and ambitious supercars. All electric except for the first to be built, the S9: a four-thousand twin-turbo engine with additional three electric motors and capable of a final power of 1,400 horsepower just to make it clear that no one wants to joke. All the electric motors will be born in the factory and will be of the new generation because if an attack it must be that it is to the end. The S7 will also be born in Reggio Emilia, both SUV and sedan while the smaller S5 and S3, again in two versions, will be conceived in Italy but will be produced in China with too large numbers for the Italian factory.
If the S9 has already been presented in September during the Milan Design Week, there is a lot of curiosity about the S7 SUV on which De Silva is working: a car that promises to be different from the canons that are the most popular and that could really amaze even if something fundamental is still missing to get to the final line: the brand. Yes, because the new cars will have to be part of a specific brand, whose name has not yet been defined. It will have to be clear, European and intriguing. They are working on it day and night because, only afterwards, will the design be able to define that product identity that is indispensable for success. This means a logo around which to create that sense of family that must characterize all models.
The plans are very aggressive because we are talking about 2023, in a year and a half, maximum two years for the first car on the market. But perhaps we have gone a little too far here, because organizing everything, including the sales network, is complex. Therefore a little prudence on the dates would not hurt: even if it were 2024 no one will be scandalized.
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