Ferrari joins European auto lobby ACEA four years after spin-off

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian luxury carmaker Ferrari <RACE.MI> has become the latest manufacturer to join the European carmakers' association (ACEA), the auto lobby said on Tuesday.

ACEA represents manufacturers of passenger cars, vans, trucks and buses with production sites in the European Union and provides benchmark data on vehicle registrations.

Ferrari's membership took effect on Jan. 1, following approval at the end of last year by the association's board of directors, which is made up of the chief executives of its member companies, ACEA said.

Ferrari did not comment.

Mike Manley, the CEO of Ferrari's former parent company Fiat Chrysler <FCHA.MI>, took over as ACEA's new president this month.

Ferrari - which was spun-off from Fiat Chrysler (FCA) in 2016 - became ACEA's sixteenth member, adding to manufacturers such as luxury carmakers BMW <BMWG.DE> and Jaguar Land Rover, but also mass market producers such as PSA-Peugeot <PEUP.PA> or Ford <F.N>, as well as truck and commercial vehicle makers such as DAF Trucks.

Ferrari is controlled by Exor <EXOR.MI>, the holding company of Italy's Agnelli family, which also controls FCA and industrial vehicle maker CNH Industrial <CNHI.MI>, another ACEA member.

Last month FCA and PSA agreed a binding $50 billion (38.00 billion pounds) tie-up to create the world's fourth-largest carmaker.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Louise Heavens)