Ferrari launches Luce at event in Rome.
Ferrari
Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna on Thursday sought to defend the 550,000-euro (roughly $640,000) price tag for the luxury carmaker’s first fully electric vehicle, saying the model has received strong customer interest, including from new super-wealthy clients.
The Luce was unveiled on Monday and sparked a negative market reaction, with Ferrari’s Milan-listed stock falling 8% on Tuesday.
Speaking at a round table in Modena, Italy, on Thursday, Vigna reportedly said the cost of the manufacturer’s new Luce model was a fair price to pay for innovation.
He said that media coverage may lead some to conclude the sports car manufacturer would replace traditional engines with an all-electric version, which he stressed was not the case.
“You have to see Luce to understand that it has nothing to do with Chinese EVs or those by other brands,” Vigna said, according to Reuters. CNBC has contacted Ferrari and is awaiting a response.
The investor reaction to the Luce’s launch was accompanied by a social media firestorm. The car’s unconventional design was criticized by the company’s former boss, as well as Italy’s transport minister.
Auto analysts, however, have downplayed the investor backlash, saying it is “too early to be overly concerned.”
The stock closed down 0.1% on Wednesday, extending Tuesday’s losses. It was last seen trading up 1.3% on Thursday.
Speaking earlier in the week, Ferrari’s Vigna described the launch of the Luce model as a “very, very important day” for the company, symbolizes the opening of “a new chapter” in its history.
When asked whether the company could satisfy new customers and its typical clientele, Vigna told CNBC’s Charlotte Reed, “Look, when you do a new technology, you need always to keep in mind a word that is called respect.”
“Respect of the technology, because when you have a new technology, you need to make sure that that technology is properly represented in the design, so the design must be different,” he added.
The Luce model, Ferrari’s first-ever five-seater car, can hit 60 mph in around 2.5 seconds and has a maximum speed of roughly 192 mph.
Ferrari said it had chosen to develop and manufacture all components in house in Maranello, while the design was entrusted to LoveFrom, an agency founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive.
EV criticism
In a sign of the criticism the EV was receiving, former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo, who held various leadership positions in the automaker for decades until 2014, described the vehicle to Italian media as a disgrace to the company’s storied history.
“I hope that they take off the prancing horse [logo] from that car,” he said on the sidelines of a business conference in Rome, according to Reuters.
Benedetto Vigna, CEO of Ferrari in the Paddock prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 07, 2025 in Monza, Italy.
Mark Sutton – Formula 1 | Formula 1 | Getty Images
Ferrari declined to comment on di Montezemolo’s remarks. Montezemolo last year joined the board of rival McLaren Group Holdings Limited, which makes competing sports cars and has focused on hybrid engines. McLaren also competes with Ferrari in Formula 1.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini also criticized the Luce.
“Electric, outrageously expensive (550 thousand euros!) and, from an aesthetic point of view, it speaks for itself… It looks like anything but a car from the Prancing Horse. And this is supposed to be ‘innovation’? Who knows what [Ferrari founder] Enzo Ferrari would say… ,” he wrote on X.
— CNBC’s Michael Wayland and Robert Frank contributed to this report.
Disclosure: CNBC is a sponsor of McLaren Racing.
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