Ferrari’s Hesitancy Over Luce EV Sparks Debate: Analysts and Investors Alarmed by Brand Impact

(SeaPRwire) –   When a company’s former chairman reveals they must hold back their thoughts about its highly anticipated flagship product launch, this is never a positive sign.

Ex-Ferrari president and chairman Luca di Montezemolo was so horrified by the Luce — the Italian luxury automaker’s first fully electric vehicle — during its Monday reveal in Rome that he told a local TV news crew he was reluctant to share his true opinions.

“If I say what I really think, I’ll hurt Ferrari,” Montezemolo stated in Italian, shaking his head in a viral clip. “We’re risking the destruction of a legendary brand identity.” The former chairman, who was forced out of the company in 2014, doubled down on his critical remarks, suggesting Ferrari remove its prancing horse logo from the vehicle and adding: “This is certainly a car that at least the Chinese won’t copy.”

This would be a minor talking point if it were just one person’s opinion. But the design of the four-door, five-seat Luce — a long-awaited addition to Ferrari’s lineup unveiled with grand ceremony in Rome — has been ridiculed by countless Ferrari enthusiasts, industry analysts, and investors.

Online memes have poked fun at its glass-roof design, with users joking the vehicle looks like a vacuum cleaner or a camper van, or drawing parallels to the Nissan Leaf — an electric car that costs far less than the 550,000 euros ($640,000) the Luce will cost buyers. One commenter noted the car looks like an Apple mouse on wheels.

“Wow, this thing is so ugly,” Luc Poirier, a Montreal-based collector who owns 40 Ferraris, told The Wall Street Journal. “How do you justify a 400,000 to 500,000 euro price tag for this? It’s unbelievable.”

Earlier this week, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna addressed the Luce criticism indirectly via a LinkedIn post, writing, “We need to remember that true innovation doesn’t seek immediate consensus, nor does it come from the ordinary.”

This did not stop investors from driving Ferrari’s shares down by as much as 8% on the Milan Stock Exchange on Tuesday, amid concerns that the negative commentary would lead to a commercial flop. There were also widespread fears that the Luce would damage Ferrari’s overall brand prestige — a reputation that supports its $70 billion market capitalization despite the company selling only around 14,000 cars per year, a strategy designed to create FOMO and fierce loyalty among wealthy car aficionados.

The automaker has pulled out all the stops for this launch, from the vehicle’s design to its rollout. For the Luce’s interior, Ferrari hired former Apple design chief Jony Ive — the mind behind the sleek aesthetic of the iPhone — and his design collective LoveFrom. Recent Luce launch events included a visit from Italian President Sergio Mattarella and a photo op with Pope Leo XIV standing next to a white Luce.

When Ferrari first announced last fall that it would finally enter the EV market, many questioned what the brand, renowned for pairing striking design with state-of-the-art combustion engines, could offer the segment — especially since Lamborghini, Bentley, and Porsche had already launched their own electric models before Ferrari.

However, Ferrari has aimed to attract a new generation of wealthy customers, particularly tech entrepreneurs in hubs like Silicon Valley — where Vigna spent years working as a chipmaker executive before taking over as Ferrari’s CEO in 2021. Expanding the brand’s customer base and impressing clients with cutting-edge technology has been his top priority.

Vigna has taken offense at claims that the company has nothing to offer in terms of technological advancements. “A leader has the responsibility to push the boundaries of what is possible. If we don’t do it, then we don’t deserve to be called a leader,” he told media outlets in October. Ferrari has shared that the electric vehicle will accelerate from 0 to 62 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds, feature a 122 kWh battery that enables charging in as little as eight minutes, and offer a range of 323 miles on a single charge.

Though the CEO appeared to downplay the importance of EVs last fall, telling reporters that they should be an “and” rather than an “or” and promising that Ferrari would not reduce its production of combustion-engine cars, he also made clear that electric vehicles are critical to the brand’s future.

During its October investor day, Ferrari announced that it expects 20% of its vehicle lineup to be fully electric by 2030, with 40% being combustion-engine models and another 40% being hybrids. A Ferrari spokesperson confirmed this week that these projections remain unchanged.

There is a valid argument that Ferrari had no choice but to enter the EV market, even as consumer enthusiasm for the sector cools. No matter how strong the brand’s fanbase is, no company can sit idly by while its industry undergoes transformation.

Consumers often react emotionally when a beloved brand makes a major change: Ferrari’s most dedicated fans may need time to adjust to a car without the signature revving combustion engine they expect. So it is wise not to place too much weight on social media reactions.

Some analysts predict that Ferrari fans will eventually warm up to the Luce. This is exactly what happened after Ferrari launched the Purosangue SUV in 2022, which faced initial criticism before going on to achieve success. “If Ferrari builds the car, the clients will come. That has been the Ferrari way,” Stephen Reitman, an auto industry analyst with Bernstein, wrote in a client note quoted by The WSJ. “We believe this strategy will continue to work.”