Ferrari’s first electric vehicle, the Luce, was unveiled in Rome with major attention but quickly drew heavy mockery from fans, analysts, and investors. Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said he hesitated to comment because speaking openly could harm Ferrari and risk destroying a myth. He suggested removing the prancing horse logo from the car and claimed it would not be copied by Chinese manufacturers. The Luce’s four-door, five-seat design, including a glass roof, was compared to everyday objects and to the Nissan Leaf, while owners criticized the high price range. Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna responded indirectly by emphasizing that true innovation does not seek immediate consensus. Despite the response, Ferrari shares fell sharply on investor concerns.
""If I say what I think, I'd cause harm to Ferrari," said Montezemolo in Italian, shaking his head in a clip that has gone viral. "We're risking the destruction of a myth." The former chairman, who was pushed out of the company in 2014, doubled down on the shade, suggesting that the company should remove its prancing horse logo from the car and remarking: "This is surely a car that at least the Chinese won't copy.""
"The look of the four-door, five-seat Luce, a long-awaited addition to Ferrari's roster unveiled with great pomp in Rome, has been mocked by countless Ferrari fans, analysts, and investors. There have been memes online making fun of its glass-roof design, suggesting that it looks like a vacuum cleaner or a camper, or pointing out the similarities to the Nissan Leaf, an EV with a price tag well below the 550,000 euros ($640,000) a Luce will set you back."
""Oh boy, how ugly she is," the Luc Poirier, a Montreal-based owner of 40 Ferraris, told the Wall Street Journal. "How (do you) justify a 400,000 to 500,000 price for this? Unbelievable.""
"Earlier this week, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna responded indirectly to the criticism of the Luce in a LinkedIn post, saying, "We need to bear in mind that true innovation does not look for immediate consensus, nor does it stem from the ordinary." That didn't stop investors sending Ferrari shares down as much as 8% on the Milan Stock Exchange on Tuesday on worries that the"
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