Despite the pressing economic times, Ferrari has found a new sponsor for its Formula 1 team, India automaker Tata Motors Ltd., Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said on Wednesday.
''For the first time an Indian logo will appear on a Ferrari race car. This is a historic moment,'' Montezemolo, who is also the Fiat chairman, said at his pre-Christmas press conference.
Montezemolo went on to stress that as long as he and CEO Sergio Marchionne have been at the helm of Fiat, the Turin automaker has never sought state aid.
''No MP can claim to have ever received a call for help from either me or Marchionne,'' the Fiat chairman said.
Montezemolo took over the Fiat chair in May 2004 and the next month Marchionne was made the group's CEO.
Tata Motors is already a supplier for Ferrari's Formula 1 team and the Indian company is Fiat's partner in a plant in Ranjangaon, in the state of Maharashtra, which produces cars, motors and transmissions for both Fiat and Tata.
Earlier this year Fiat India Automobiles decided to pump some $1 billion into the plant to enable it to produce Fiat's Linea and Grande Punto models.
In October Marchionne said that Fiat had plans for a new low cost car which would be produced in India under another marque.
During Wednesday's press conference, Montezemolo also said that he would never trade Ferrari's driver Felipe Massa for McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who beat Massa for this year's title in the last lap of the last race of the season.
''That Massa didn't win this year was our fault. And the way Felipe coped with the defeat enhanced him in our eyes as a man and as a driver,'' Montezemolo said.
