Ferrari aims to prove doubters wrong after EV debut
If Ferrari wants to attract the world’s attention with its first fully electric car, the Luce, the mission has been successfully completed, although most of the reactions have been shock and anger.
The new model is a four-door, five-seat family car and is nothing like the Italian brand’s usual low-slung, gasoline-powered sports cars.
It was unveiled at a gala event in Rome late Monday and shown the next day to Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Leo, a well-known car enthusiast who appeared happy to sit in the driver’s seat.
But the styling, which is largely the work of auto industry outsiders Jony Ive and Marc Newson and their collective LoveFrom, has left many fans and commentators stunned. Ive is best known as the designer of Apple’s iPhones and MacBooks.
Social media is full of unpleasant memes that variously liken the Luce to a vacuum cleaner, a rubber clog, or the much-maligned Fiat Multipla, which in the 1990s was often cited as among the world’s ugliest cars.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini publicly wondered what founder Enzo Ferrari, who died in 1988, would make of this.
Former Ferrari CEO Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said that the prancing horse logo on the car should be removed.
Investors were also spooked. Milan-listed Ferrari shares fell 8.4 percent on Tuesday, with one investor telling Reuters the shares were “punished for aesthetic disappointment.”
Felipe Munoz of Auto Industry Analysis noted that Ferrari was probably expecting turmoil, given the deliberate break with tradition, and that negative publicity was still publicity.
“From a communications perspective, they have managed to get the world talking about electric Ferrari,” he said.
“They did it on awareness because there is nothing else right now.”
Munoz described the Luce as a “vanity product” – unlikely to be a big seller, but key to showcasing technology and repositioning Ferrari in the electric age.
A company source has previously noted that Ferrari’s curveballs – the all-wheel-drive FF in 2011 and the Purosangue SUV in 2022 – also raised doubts before selling well.
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