There is a risk of destroying a myth, and I deeply regret it.
The Ferrari Luce, priced at €550,000, became a meme sensation within hours of announcement, compared to vacuums and toilets by internet users. Former Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo warned the design risks 'destroying a myth,' while stock prices fell 8% in Milan and 5% in New York.
- Ferrari Luce priced at €550,000 (approx. 3.2 million Brazilian reals)
- Stock dropped 8% in Milan, 5% in New York after announcement
- First fully electric Ferrari, designed by Jony Ive's Love From studio
- Ferrari reduced 2030 EV target from 40% to 20% of total lineup
Ferrari's first fully electric vehicle, the Luce, sparked widespread mockery on social media and triggered an 8% stock drop after its €550,000 reveal, with even the former CEO criticizing the design.
Ferrari unveiled its first fully electric car on Monday, and by Tuesday morning the internet had already rendered its verdict: the Luce looked like a vacuum cleaner. Or a toilet. Or a lawn mower, depending on which corner of social media you inhabited. The four-door, five-seat sedan arrived with a €550,000 price tag—roughly 3.2 million Brazilian reals—and a design so polarizing that it would trigger an 8 percent stock plunge in Milan and a 5 percent drop in New York within hours of the announcement.
The Luce represents Ferrari's first venture into pure electric vehicles, a collaboration between the Italian luxury house and Love From, the design studio founded by Jony Ive, the former chief designer at Apple. The car's proportions—taller and boxier than the sleek, low-slung machines that have defined Ferrari's identity for decades—came from a practical necessity: the battery pack had to live somewhere, and underneath the floor was the only option. That engineering choice, however sensible, gutted the dynamic lines that have made Ferraris instantly recognizable for generations. The result was a sedan that looked, to many observers, like it had been designed by committee in a wind tunnel rather than by artists in a studio.
The harshest criticism came from Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who led Ferrari from 1991 to 2014 and shaped the company into a global icon. Speaking at an event in Rome, Montezemolo did not mince words. "If I said what I really think, it would hurt Ferrari," he said. "There is a risk of destroying a myth, and I deeply regret it. I hope at least they remove the Prancing Horse from this car—at least the Chinese won't be able to copy that." The comment stung precisely because it came from someone who understood Ferrari's mythology better than almost anyone alive.
On social media, the mockery was swift and creative. Users compared the Luce to household appliances with the kind of precision usually reserved for product reviews. Artificial intelligence was enlisted to generate images of Enzo Ferrari, the company's founder, looking devastated at what his legacy had become. The Prancing Horse—Ferrari's iconic emblem—was reimagined as a donkey. The memes accumulated by the thousands, each one a small vote of no-confidence in the design.
Ferrari's leadership tried to frame the Luce as a bold step forward. John Elkann, the company's chairman, even presented the car to Pope Leo at his summer residence, emphasizing that this was Ferrari's first five-seat model. CEO Benedetto Vigna argued that leading companies must have the courage to take risks with new technologies. A handful of users online agreed, calling the design "revolutionary" and "stylish for a four-door EV." But they were drowned out by the chorus of skeptics.
The stock market's reaction suggested that investors were not convinced by the optimistic framing. The 8 percent drop in Milan and 5 percent in New York sent a clear message: the market had doubts about whether this car could carry Ferrari into the electric future without damaging the brand's core identity. Those doubts have only deepened as the broader EV market has cooled. Just recently, Ferrari itself acknowledged the slowdown by cutting its target for purely electric vehicles in 2030 from 40 percent of its lineup to 20 percent. The company that had promised to lead the charge into electrification was now quietly retreating, hedging its bets, waiting to see if the world would eventually accept an electric Ferrari—or if the Luce would remain a cautionary tale about the perils of reinvention.
Notable Quotes
If I said what I really think, it would hurt Ferrari. There is a risk of destroying a myth, and I deeply regret it.— Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, former Ferrari president (1991-2014)
Leading companies must have the courage to take risks with new technologies.— Benedetto Vigna, Ferrari CEO
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did the design turn out so differently from what people expected?
The battery had to go somewhere, and underneath the car was the only real option. That forced the whole proportions upward and outward. A traditional Ferrari sits low and tight. The Luce sits higher, wider. It's the physics of electrification meeting the aesthetics of a 70-year-old brand.
But Ferrari has worked with great designers before. Why did this collaboration with Jony Ive produce something people found so ugly?
Ive is brilliant at simplification and minimalism—that's the Apple way. But Ferrari's identity is built on drama, on curves, on the sense that the car is barely containing its own power. Those two philosophies don't naturally align. You get something that looks efficient rather than thrilling.
Montezemolo's comment about destroying a myth—was he being dramatic, or did he have a real point?
He was being precise. A myth is fragile. It depends on consistency, on people believing in something. The moment you break the visual language that people associate with that myth, you risk losing them. He wasn't being sentimental. He was describing a real business risk.
The stock dropped 8 percent. Is that just about the design, or is something deeper happening?
The design is the symptom. The deeper issue is that Ferrari is trying to electrify while staying Ferrari, and nobody knows if that's actually possible. The stock market is pricing in the uncertainty. And then Ferrari itself admitted it by cutting its EV targets in half.
So what happens next? Does the Luce fail, or does the market eventually accept it?
That's the question no one can answer yet. The car exists. It's real. People will buy some of them—at €550,000, there are always buyers. But whether it becomes a beloved part of Ferrari's story or a footnote about the time the brand lost its way—that depends on things that haven't happened yet.