From Pistonheads forum member:
"I can tell you plenty about the FCA plan should you desire, as I've been following it for a while.
Marchionne (new head of Ferrari, but long time head of Fiat, now Fiat Chrysler) is historically an accountant, but it doesn't mean he's unsympathetic to the petrolhead side of things. I'm listening to a conference call now and he describes the move as being prompted by Ferrari's niche nature having little direct commonality with a mass production automotive manufacturer.
The big Fiat Chrysler plan is to increase volume, in the cheap sector but particularly in the premium segment. This means more volume for Maserati, already begun, and much more volume for Alfa, yet to really happen. That all needs product investment and so the divestment of Ferrari will at least raise a bit of that cash.
He's said a couple of other things of interest: that Ferrari depends on exclusivity through low volume and it would be self-defeating to try and increase that significantly, which people have been afraid he might do for a while. He also said something like "cars are almost incidental to Ferrari", and how it's a luxury brand above all else. I'm not sure that'll be taken as it was meant!
I've said it before: for a long time, from a shareholder PoV and especially in terms of financial results, Ferrari has been an oddball 'and in other news' item, a bit like their interests in say Magneti Marelli or the other incidentals. That tells you a few things: it can survive on its own, and it already has autonomy. I would tentatively say then that independent Ferrari is a good thing for prancing horse fans, affording even more freedom, but it's also probably not actually that much different from today."