MARANELLO, ITALY - Ferrari could launch a hybrid car by the year 2015, according to the Italian sportscar maker's CEO, Amedeo Felisa. However, in an interview with British magazine Autocar, Felisa revealed this was not exactly Ferrari's wish. The official said that either the European Union or Italian environmental regulations could force the company to put a hybrid up for sale.

Felisa said he did not see the point in Ferrari being forced to comply with lowered emissions rules. "The issue of emissions for Ferrari is more a political one than real one. Lowering emissions of every Ferrari will not save the planet, but it will cost us a lot of money," Felisa said.

Currently, Ferrari is only exploring hybrid powertrains to reduce emissions within the next ten years. The company has not ruled out the eventual use of hydrogen.

"In the next five to 10 years, hybrid technology will develop and maybe something else will come up. Maybe il will be hydrogen, but for our cars only hybrid is ready," Ferrari's CEO added.

Felisa hints that a Ferrari hybrid is not quite what people expect from the Maranello-based carmaker. At least not now. "Our customers are looking for the essence of Ferrari - the emotion, the performance, the technology and so on. The way in which we fix emissions is not their problem but ours. If we are not able to fix it, only then will it become a problem for them," Felisa said in the Autocar interview.

Ferrari presented at the 2010 Geneva motor show the 599 HY-KERS concept, its first attempt at the environmentally-friendly category. The car incorporates a roadgoing derivative of Ferrari's Kinetic Energy Recovery System used in Formula 1 last year. Along the V-12 petrol engine, the green Ferrari features an electric motor that develops 100 horsepower.