- Ferrari’s first EV just triggered one of the harshest market reactions in recent memory.
- Critics say the Luce looks more like a premium EV sedan than a traditional Ferrari.
- Shares plunged as investors questioned whether Ferrari strayed too far from its identity.
Ferrari finally did it. After years of teasing, previewing, and carefully easing customers toward the idea of an all-electric future, the company has officially unveiled the Luce. It’s the brand’s first fully electric model, its first five-seat vehicle, and perhaps its biggest gamble in decades. Judging by the market reaction, shareholders think Ferrari might want to go back to the drawing board.
Shares of Ferrari took a beating after the reveal, with the Milan-listed stock closing down 8.4% and the New York-listed shares off 5.1%, one of the steepest immediate reactions we’ve seen to a new vehicle launch. Analysts pinned the slide on a mix of investors cashing out after the hype and a far simpler explanation we saw in the comments here: people apparently just don’t like the way it looks.
Read: Ferrari’s Luce Is A Four-Door EV Designed By The iPhone Guy
The Luce, Italian for “light,” is unlike anything Ferrari has produced before. Rather than hand the project to longtime design chief Flavio Manzoni, the company turned to Jony Ive and his LoveFrom design studio. The result is a radical departure, to say the very least. Social media reactions were swift and often brutal. Some critics speaking to Yahoo Finance compared it to a mashup of a Honda Accord and a Tesla Model 3, while others struggled to identify much traditional Ferrari DNA at all.
Under the skin, the Luce packs a quad-motor setup producing a combined 1,035 hp, with Ferrari quoting a 0 to 62 mph (100km/h) time of 2.5 seconds and a top speed of 193 mph (310 km/h). It also holds the distinction of being the first five-seater in Ferrari’s history, and pricing is expected to start from over €520,000 ($600,000) before options.
One analyst described Ferrari’s stock move to CNBC as “the sharpest reaction we’ve seen for a car design,” adding that “the market has spoken.” That may sound dramatic, but investors have legitimate concerns. EV development and production are expensive. Just over the last year we’ve seen many larger brands completely shift their EV plans due to huge financial losses around the technology.
Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna says the company wanted to respect the technology and create a different kind of Ferrari experience. He argues emotion matters more than the sound of an engine. But that philosophy lands at a strange time.
Rivals like Porsche and Lamborghini have already backed away from aggressive EV plans after seeing weaker-than-expected demand. Only time will tell which of these brands made the right play in the end. For now, the only thing that seems certain is that the Luce doesn’t look like the car investors hoped for.
