Ferrari Luce Debut Sparks Backlash Across Italy

The Ferrari Luce, the brand’s first electric vehicle, has landed with a jolt: online backlash over its design, a $650,000 price tag, and a sharp 8% dip in Ferrari stock the day after its Rome unveiling. Italian political figures and auto designers openly quest

Ferrari unveiled the Luce with pomp and circumstance at the Quirinale in Rome on Monday, positioning the car as a new chapter for the brand. The reaction came fast—and it wasn’t quiet.

Since the debut, Ferrari has faced an avalanche of complaints and skepticism about the design. Critics aren’t only focusing on the $650,000 price tag, which is high even by Ferrari standards. They’re also questioning what the Luce represents and how it fits—if it fits at all—into Ferrari’s long. storied legacy. The backlash had a clear financial flash point: the day after the EV’s debut, Ferrari stock dipped 8 percent.

The criticism quickly widened beyond typical consumer grumbling. Luca Cordero di Montezemolo. Ferrari’s former chairman. warned. “We risk the destruction of a myth.” Carlo Calenda. an Italian senator and the country’s former economic minister. called the release an “aesthetic and technological insult. ” and used the moment to attack John Elkann—the leader of the Agnelli family. which owns a controlling stake in Ferrari—and his management of the family’s assets.

Closing the circle was Matteo Salvini, who, as Italy’s minister of transport, felt compelled to intervene. His negative assessment, paired with an invocation of Enzo Ferrari, added weight to the sense that this wasn’t just an internet argument about styling.

Part of the intensity comes from how different the Luce is from what Ferrari drivers have known. The electric sedan weighs roughly a ton more than a hybrid. Instead of a single engine delivering the performance feel. it uses four electric motors—one per wheel—and is built to seat five people. Ferrari says the car can sprint from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in 2.5 seconds. The instantaneous acceleration was so strong that Ferrari consulted with NASA to keep the sensations physically pleasant rather than unpleasant. Inside the cabin, the “engine note” relies on electronically treated mechanical sounds.

Design criticism has also been sharpened by how this new identity arrives. Automotive designer Maurizio Corbi—who has more than 30 years of experience, trained at the industrial design firm Bertone, and later worked at Pininfarina—described the uproar as predictable.

“It’s clear that this is a product designed not by a car designer but by a product designer.” Corbi’s skepticism suggests the Luce has triggered something bigger than taste. He says, “I suspect it’s a powerful marketing ploy. They literally threw a boulder in a pond, and that’s all people are talking about. I can’t recall anything similar.”.

For Corbi, the debate isn’t only about whether the Luce is attractive. It’s about whether it’s losing contact with Ferrari’s design culture. “Ferrari. when it comes to road cars. means Pininfarina. ” he said. pointing to the brand’s “greatest masterpieces” and their signature. He also argued that Ferrari’s current design direction risks being pulled off course: “The brand’s greatest masterpieces bear that signature. [Ferrari’s] current design director. Flavio Manzoni. has been able to innovate while still keeping a close eye on that tradition. I fear that he too has been affected by this project. because he is too detached from the path Ferrari has taken in recent years.”.

In Rome, the Luce was presented as a breakthrough. At the moment it left the curtain, it also became a test of loyalty—to a brand myth, to a design lineage, and to how much change Ferrari can absorb before its core identity starts to feel unrecognizable.

Ferrari Luce first electric vehicle Quirinale Rome Italian auto experts Maurizio Corbi Luca Cordero di Montezemolo Carlo Calenda Matteo Salvini John Elkann Flavio Manzoni electric sedan $650 000 NASA consultation four electric motors