The Ferrari California, will be launched on the Romanian market by the end of January, at prices starting at 180,000 euros, including VAT, and the first deliveries to customers will be made at the beginning of summer, reports Curierul National.

"We have already started to take orders for the California even since the last months of this year, and we were able to send orders to the factory in November. Thus, we will deliver the first Californias to customers in early summer," on Tuesday told the Mediafax agency, Ioana Florescu, marketing manager at Forza Rossa, the Ferrari partner in Romania.

The Ferrari California was presented in its series version at the car motor-show from Paris, organised in early October. The car has a coupé-cabriolet type body. Depending on customer preferences, the California may have two seats and, by adding a small bench behind the front seats, three or four seats.

It comes powered by a 4.3-liter V8 engine that's mounted just behind the front axle for better weight distribution. The engine generates an estimated 460 horsepower and drives the rear wheels via a seven-speed transmission that can be shifted using paddles on the steering wheel. Equipped with a 4.3-liter petrol engine, which generates 460 horsepower (HP), the Ferrari California accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in less than four seconds and its maximum speed is 310 km/h. Engine torque is 485 Nm at 5,000 revolutions per minute, and 75 percent of it is available from 2,250 rpm. The engine is coupled to a seven-speed automatic transmission that has paddles on the steering wheel. The average fuel consumption declared by the manufacturer is 13 litres of gasoline per hundred kilometres travelled, and carbon dioxide emissions are 305.6 grams per kilometre. The engine of the new Ferrari model corresponds to Euro 5 standards, and the Romanian car pollution tax is thus 0.

Florescu said that Forza Rossa already has 28 orders for California, but the longer waiting time, specific for Ferrari cars, will make some customers receive their cars in 2010. "The factory allocated a total of 20-25 units of the full range for next year, fewer than the number of requests that we have only for the California," said Florescu. This year, Forza Rossa had 15 cars allocated.

According to the marketing manager of the company, Ferrari clients in Romania are on average 30 to 35 years old, are business people or lawyers, and 60-70 percent of them buy their cars for cash, the others preferring leasing. Ferrari's first showroom with service facilities, located in Romania was opened in May, following an initial investment of five million euros.

Report: Curierul National