In reaction to the news that the Ford Motor Company is suing the it over the use of the name F150, Ferrari has announced that its 2011 contender will henceforth be designated the F150th Italia.

It was revealed yesterday that Ford has instituted legal proceedings against Ferrari after the Italian outfit designated its 2011 car the F150. The American giant has a popular pick-up truck with the same name - one easily can understand how members of the public might be confused - albeit it with a hyphen (F-150) and objected to Ferrari's use of its trademark and goodwill.

In a statement issued this afternoon (Thursday), Ferrari said the name F150 was merely an abbreviation of the full name of its 2011 contender and immediately set about updating all references to the ‘old’ name.

The statement reads as follows:

"On the subject of the name of the new Ferrari Formula 1 car, the Maranello company wishes to point out that it has sent a letter of reply to Ford, underlining the fact that the F150 designation (used as the abbreviated version of the complete name, which is Ferrari F150th Italia) never has, nor ever will be used as the name of a commercially available product - indeed there will definitely not be a production run of single-seaters. In fact, it has always been the case in the history of Scuderia names, that they represent the nomenclature of a racing car project and are linked to a chronological order with a technical basis, or in exceptional cases, to special occasions. This year, the decision was taken to dedicate the car name to a particularly significant event, the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, an event of such great importance that the Italian government has declared, for this year only, a national holiday.

For these reasons, Ferrari believes that its own contender in the forthcoming F1 championship cannot be confused with other types of commercially available vehicle of any sort whatsoever, nor can it give the impression that there is a link to another brand of road-going vehicle. Therefore it is very difficult to understand Ford's viewpoint on the matter.

Despite this and to further prove it is acting in good faith and that it operates in a completely correct manner, Ferrari has decided to ensure that in all areas of operation, the abbreviated version will be replaced at all times with the full version, Ferrari F150th Italia.