Ferrari CEO Defends EV Design and Pricing

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna has responded to criticism of the company's first electric vehicle after its €550,000 (US$640,000) price tag and design prompted a share price decline and negative reactions from investors and social media users.

The Luce model was announced this week. According to Reuters, the company's share price fell by as much as 8% the day after the announcement before recovering to a 6% decline.

Prior to the launch, Ferrari was valued at €56bn (US$65bn).

Benedetto says the model has already seen strong consumer interest. He told Reuters the cost was fair considering its design approach.

He says media coverage framed the announcement as a shift to replace all traditional engines with electric equivalents, which is not the company's strategy.

Brand positioning and design strategy

"You have to see Luce to understand that it has nothing to do with Chinese EVs or those by other brands," Benedetto said in an interview to Reuters.

Ferrari says the Luce's design was "simplified and rationalised in service of the driving experience" and emphasises that it was creating an "entirely new Ferrari".

The company developed and manufactured all components in Maranello, with the design entrusted to LoveFrom, an agency founded by former Apple Design Chief Jony Ive.

Benedetto described the day of the announcement as a "very, very important day" for the company and that it symbolised the opening of "a new chapter" in the brand's history.

When CNBC asked whether the company could attract new customers and appease its regular clientele with the launch, Benedetto replied: "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."

Stakeholder and public response

The model drew criticism from Ferrari's former CEO Luca di Montezemolo, who voiced concerns over the model's impact on Ferrari's legacy.

Discussing the design, he said: "If I were to say what I really think, I'd be doing Ferrari a disservice. We risk destroying a legend, and I'm truly sorry about that."

Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini also commented on the Luce.

"Electric, outrageously expensive – €550,000 – and, from an aesthetic point of view, it speaks for itself," he said.

"It looks like anything but a car from the Prancing Horse. And this is supposed to be 'innovation'? Who knows what Enzo Ferrari would say."

The reaction from investors was accompanied by criticism on social media.

The company's valuation and market response could show investor uncertainty about the model's commercial potential.

Product portfolio and 2030 targets

According to Ferrari, the company scaled back its ambitions to shift from petrol to electric last year.

Its current strategy is to establish a 2030 lineup of 40% internal combustion engine models, 40% hybrids and 20% fully electric.

In 2022 it had planned for 40% electric, 40% hybrids and 20% petrol models by 2030.

Discussing Luce and Ferrari's plans for electric vehicle development, Benedetto says: "We are convinced that a company demonstrates its leadership when it has the courage to dare and to take on the challenge of new technologies.

"Ferrari Luce was born precisely from this challenge, offering our unprecedented vision of electrification."