Ferrari unveils new hybrid prototype for test clients

MILAN (Reuters) - Ferrari's test-drive clients will be able to try out a 1,050 horsepower prototype hybrid car from next year, the unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said on Wednesday, heralding another attempt to boost performance of its supercars. The FXX-K - based on Ferrari's 1-million-euro (783.7-million-pound) first hybrid LaFerrari - will be unveiled at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi this weekend at a celebration of the end of Ferrari's racing season. The new prototype combines a 860-horsepower V12 engine with an electric motor that will deliver an additional 190 horsepower, Ferrari said in a statement. Not having to meet road certification standards or racing regulations, the vehicle has been equipped with some special technology and will be tried in a two-year test programme. The FXX-K will never be used in competition, the company added. Fiat Chrysler plans to spin off Ferrari from the group next year to reduce its debt pile and raise funds for an ambitious five-year business plan. The FXX-K will be the first new model unveiled by Ferrari since Sergio Marchionne, also the chief executive of Fiat Chrysler, in October replaced Luca Cordero di Montezemolo as chairman of the luxury sportscar group. Ferrari plans to build a few dozen of the FXX-K model, whose price tag should be around 2.5 million euros (1.9 million pounds), although no official value had been released yet. (Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Mark Heinrich)