Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne says the Italian car company "needs to be involved" with all-electric series Formula E in the near future.

Last year the Ferrari boss indicated a willingness to join the Formula E grid "a few years from now". Unlike Formula One, the series has been successful in attracting manufacturers, with reigning world champions Mercedes reserving a place on the grid for the 2018/19 season.

Marchionne says Ferrari would learn a lot from the series which could be applied to its road car division.

"We need to be involved in Formula E because electrification via hybridisation is going to be part of our future," Marchionne told FIA publication Auto. "Hybridisation is crucial to Ferrari. There is no denying that regulations put us under pressure, but we could reach those targets in other ways.

"The challenge is to benefit from hybridisation not just in terms of emissions reduction, but also performance. We have already developed a hybrid supercar, La Ferrari, and on future Ferrari models we will leverage new technologies as well as electrification."

BMW will become a Formula E manufacturer from 2018, while Audi, Renault, Jaguar and Citroen's DS brand are also involved. Formula E still has a spot on the grid for a 12th team to join with Mercedes in 2018, though Ferrari joining as a manufacturer before 2022 seems unlikely. If it does not join as a fully-fledged manufacturer then, it could enter a partnership with an existing team, most probably under the Fiat brand.