South Korea hosts first Universo Ferrari exhibition in Asia

For the first time in Asia, South Korea is hosting an event featuring the history of the Italian sports car brand Ferrari.

Ferrari on Thursday opened the four-day immersive exhibition Universo Ferrari at Seoul's Dongdaemun Design Plaza.

The event organizes spaces by theme to show Ferrari and its identity and heritage and exhibits vehicles matching each theme. This edition is just the third after those in Italy and Australia.

Twenty-two Ferrari models including sports and F1 race cars and prototypes are on display at the Seoul event, including the Roma Spider, a sports convertible released in March.

The exhibition is in the form of a tour featuring docents who provide commentary at each space, including staff from Ferrari headquarters in Italy at select spaces.

Ferrari on Thursday unveiled its Roma Spider as the main event of the exhibition.

This convertible was designed for comfortable driving in an open car by expanding the concept of "la nuova dolce vita" (new sweet life) of the Ferrari Roma.

The vehicle inherited the same ratio, volume and specifications that went into the concept of the Ferrari Roma V8 2+ coupe, with a soft top installed on a Ferrari front-engine vehicle for the first time in 54 years.

At the unveiling event of the Roma Spider on the same day, the brand's visiting top executives including CEO Benedetto Vigna, Chief Marketing Officer Enrico Galliera and Dieter Knechtel, president of Ferrari Far East and Middle East, were in attendance.

The executives also signed an OLED supply contract with Samsung Display and will reportedly attend a meeting with Samsung Chairman Lee Jay-yong.
 
In addition, Ferrari invited graduate students of engineering from Seoul National University to the event, arranged a meeting for them with Vigna, and discussed the future of the automotive industry under the theme of sustainable innovation and technology.

Universo Ferrari will be opened to the public on Sunday.

South Korea is a very important market for Ferrari, Galliera said, adding that he hopes Koreans can experience up close the meaning of inclusion in the company's family.

Write to Nan-Sae Bin at binthere@hankyung.com