On Wednesday, Ferrari opened its order book for the four-door sports car selling at 550,000 euros, or $640,000. Its stock has fallen about 8 percent since the flashy launch event, and analysts are questioning whether the Luce\u2019s rocky debut signals trouble ahead for the company\u2019s electrification push.<\/p>\n
Harald Hendrikse, an auto analyst at Citi, said it was unclear the effect the new car would have on Ferrari\u2019s general \u201cbrand perception.\u201d High-end automakers have found it especially difficult to get traction for E.V.s, he added in a research note on Tuesday, after Ferrari hosted an event in Rome for analysts to see the car up close. \u201cLaunching the Luce now, Ferrari highlighted such risks,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
In a break from recent tradition, Ferrari sought outside design help for the Luce, turning to LoveFrom, the agency founded in 2019 by Jony Ive, Apple\u2019s former design chief, and the industrial designer Marc Newson<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Ive-inspired design has been polarizing. Some reviewers praised<\/a> the engineering, interior design and accelerating power of the new model. But many Ferraristi, as the brand\u2019s fans are known, prize the sleek angles and distinctive engine roar of models like the Ferrari F80<\/a>, and are finding it difficult to embrace the Luce\u2019s bubblelike exterior.<\/p>\n Online, the Luce \u2014 pronounced LOO-chay, or \u201clight\u201d in Italian \u2014 drew plenty of comparisons to the Nissan Leaf<\/a>, an E.V. that costs about a half a million dollars less. \u201cWhy is it that some automakers think that electric vehicles have to look like electronic devices?\u201d one commenter on Reddit asked. A popular meme showed a car that looks like the Luce wheels-up, with an iPhone charger plugged into its undercarriage<\/a>.<\/p>\n Perhaps the harshest criticism came from Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari\u2019s former chairman. \u201cIf I say what I think, I\u2019d cause harm to Ferrari,\u201d he told reporters on Tuesday, when asked to comment on the Luce<\/a>.<\/p>\n Moments later, he reconsidered, saying bluntly: \u201cWe\u2019re risking the destruction of a legend.\u201d Matteo Salvini, Italy\u2019s deputy prime minister and the leader of Italy\u2019s far-right League Party, posted similarly unflattering remarks<\/a> on social media.<\/p>\n That said, Pope Leo XIV<\/a> and President Sergio Mattarella<\/a> of Italy, seemed impressed when they inspected the Luce as Ferrari took the car on a V.I.P. spin through Rome.<\/p>\n But there is a lot riding on the Luce. Benedetto Vigna, Ferrari\u2019s chief executive, called the electric vehicle a rare \u201cLeapfrog moment\u201d in the company\u2019s nearly 80-year history of making high-performance sports cars. \u201cI am fortunate to be living one at this time,\u201d he said in an interview on Monday.<\/p>\n Some analysts have pinned Ferrari\u2019s electrification push on Mr. Vigna, a former tech executive who took over at Ferrari in 2021. <\/p>\n In October, the company disappointed the market with a lackluster growth forecast, which included a downgrade to its electric ambitions<\/a>. <\/p>\n Shares in Ferrari have fallen by one-third since then, wiping nearly $30 billion off the company\u2019s market valuation.<\/p>\n Ferrari now expects 20 percent of its 2030 model lineup to be all electric, compared with a 40 percent target it announced in 2022. It left unchanged its plan for hybrids to make up 40 percent of new cars.<\/p>\n The market for high-end E.V.s has largely stalled. Other luxury carmakers \u2014 including Mercedes-Benz<\/a>, Porsche<\/a>, and Lamborghini<\/a> \u2014 have postponed, scaled back or abandoned their electric plans. Many investors wondered if Ferrari, whose profits had largely defied the woes of the automotive sector and President Trump\u2019s trade war, had also misjudged the market for E.V.s.<\/p>\n Mr. Hendrikse, the Citi analyst, wrote that Ferrari\u2019s gas-powered and hybrid models would drive profits at the company for the foreseeable future. <\/p>\n Bernhard Warner<\/p>\n Senior Editor, DealBook<\/p>\n I was at Ferrari\u2019s Luce media-only unveiling on Sunday evening in Rome. Most of us had no idea what to expect. And then the big moment: 5 gleaming cars drove into the venue.The reaction from many of us was instant: “Is that a Ferrari?” The colors, the quiet entry, the somewhat rounded bodywork. We had to get up close to see for ourselves that it was, in fact, a Ferrari. What do you think?<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/author-bernhard-warner-thumbLarge.png\")
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