Ferrari President Still Eyeing IPO for 2003

Italian sports car maker Ferrari still aims to list its shares later this year, chief executive Luca di Montezemolo told Reuters on Monday, but the exact timing would depend on market conditions.

"I can confirm we will do it this year," he told Reuters at the Detroit auto show. However, he declined to say whether weak stock markets would keep the initial public offering process from starting until later in the year.

In September, di Montezemolo had said he hoped the process would start early in 2003. Ferrari's main shareholder Fiat sold a 34 percent stake in the sports car division in June 2002 to investment bank Mediobanca for 775.2 million euros as part of its debt reduction efforts.

Di Montezemolo said the idea of grouping the Alfa Romeo brand with Ferrari and Maserati "could be a fascinating project". Mediobanca had proposed grouping the three brands together last month as part of a rescue plan for Fiat Auto.

Fiat, however, chose to pursue its own restructuring plan for the ailing mass-market car unit, which comprises the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands.

"This could be a fascinating project, but we have more important priorities at the moment," di Montezemolo said, describing the concept as only theoretical. "It is just a fascinating idea."

He declined to explain specifically why the idea was appealing, saying only that it would be nice to have the three Italian sports car brands together. He added that Ferrari and Maserati sales rose 20 percent in 2002, but gave no specific figures.