Ferrari's stock stumbled Tuesday after the Italian automaker unveiled its first fully electric vehicle, a sleek sedan designed by Apple's former design chief that has left investors and analysts questioning whether the company has abandoned its sportscar DNA.
The Luce, priced at $640,000, marked the brand's boldest departure yet. With a 122-kilowatt-hour battery delivering 329 miles of range and acceleration from zero to 100km/h in 2.5 seconds, the car packs genuine performance specs. But its minimalist, four-door saloon silhouette proved jarring to a market that expects red racers, not family sedans.
Shares dropped as much as 8% in Milan trading before settling at a 6% loss, a sharp rebuke from investors accustomed to Ferrari's tradition of low-volume exclusivity aimed squarely at the supercar faithful.
The Luce is Ferrari's first five-seater and only its second four-door model, a positioning that screams wealthy family hauler rather than instrument for adrenaline junkies. The comparison to the Purosangue SUV, launched in 2022, only underscored how far the marque has drifted from its racing roots.
Jony Ive's LoveFrom studio crafted the design philosophy around what Ferrari called a "simplified and rationalised" approach to driving experience. The company framed the Luce as "entirely new Ferrari," suggesting leadership willing to embrace electrification on its own terms.
Not everyone bought the pitch. Pierre-Olivier Essig, research head at AIR Capital, told clients the Luce resembles "a mix between a Honda Accord EV and Tesla 3." His verdict: "We are lost in translation with Ferrari's new strategy."
The criticism reflects deeper unease about the brand's long-term direction. Just last year, Ferrari recalibrated its electrification roadmap, scaling back ambitions substantially. By 2030, the company now targets 40% internal combustion models, 40% hybrids, and 20% full electrics. That's a sharp reversal from a 2022 plan that projected 40% electric vehicles.
CEO Benedetto Vigna pushed back against the skeptics, insisting that true leadership means embracing new technologies and taking calculated risks. "Ferrari Luce was born precisely from this challenge," he said, presenting the car as proof of the brand's conviction.
Ferrari did sprinkle in nods to tradition: the Luce plays an "authentic" motor sound through interior and exterior speakers, amplified directly from the electric motors themselves. It's a small gesture toward keeping petrol enthusiasts emotionally engaged, though few seemed convinced by the effort.
The company, valued at roughly 56 billion euros before Tuesday's announcement, still operates solely from Maranello in northern Italy. That heritage counts for something, but heritage alone won't stop stock from falling when the world's most valuable sportscar maker launches what looks like an upscale sedan.
Author James Rodriguez: "Ferrari is trying to be everything at once, and investors clearly think it's becoming nothing in particular."
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