Gliding on robotic haulers, a line of Ferrari frames manoeuvres through a gleaming new factory in northern Italy. At each station, engineers in cherry-red uniforms add a component – an engine block, a dashboard, a steering wheel – as they transform the bodies into hybrid vehicles. Up next: fully electric vehicles.

A lot is riding on Ferrari’s €200 million ($321 million) “e-building”, which went into operation last month and is almost twice the size of Rome’s Colosseum. The factory is intended to bring the 77-year-old sports car maker, known for the sonorous vroom of its petrol engines, into the age of electrification.