Ferrari’s Jony Ive-designed model was mocked by the internet, but it’s selling like hotcakes - Fortune

When famed Italian supercar brand Ferrari announced its first EV, the Luce, in May, the car was mocked relentlessly online, in part owing to its design, spearheaded by former Apple designer Jony Ive. The backlash led to the company’s shares falling 8% in a single day, but as of this month, the company has already met its sales target. The automaker reportedly set a target of 500 units sold in 2026, according to the Financial Times, meaning in the two months after its release, the company seems to be well on track to meet its long-term goal of selling 2,500 units of the $640,000 electric vehicle by 2030. The news comes as a shock given the ridicule Ferrari endured following the car’s release in May. Online, users criticized the Luce for its unique look, which was a product of Ferrari’s collaboration with Ive and his design firm LoveFrom. The car stands apart from other Ferraris with its rounded surfaces and unusually large wheels. It also has four doors instead of two like many other models in the famed automaker’s lineup. Even Luca di Montezemolo, who served as president and chairman of Ferrari for two decades, criticized the car, saying during its unveiling in May that he hoped “they take the prancing horse off that car, at least.”  “This is definitely a car that, at least, the Chinese won’t copy,” he said in Italian. Ferrari has positioned the Luce as its solution to capturing wealthy Chinese and Silicon Valley buyers who are already comfortable driving EVs. Yet it has warned its dealers not to pressure customers accustomed to its gas-powered models to switch to EVs, according to the Financial Times. The news about Luce’s sales achievement comes as CEO Benedetto Vigna said Thursday he was “very pleased with how orders are proceeding,” Reuters reported. Ferrari’s good news is also salient because EV market share has fallen in the U.S., which accounts for about a quarter of the company’s sales. After President Donald Trump eliminated the federal tax credit for EV purchases in September, new EV sales collapsed by 49% month over month in October, according to Cox Automotive. Last month, new EV sales fell 28% from a year earlier and accounted for 5.4% of total new vehicle sales in the U.S.—a decrease from May, according to Cox Automotive.  Competitors have also recently pulled back on the EV market amid lackluster sales. Lamborghini, which is owned by Volkswagen through its subsidiary Audi, canceled its $300,000 luxury EV, the Lanzador, in 2025, with the carmaker’s CEO, Stephan Winkelmann, claiming the market and customers were “not ready.”  Ferrari, for its part, scaled back its EV ambitions in October when it said it would now aim for 20% of its lineup to be all-electric by 2030 instead of 40%.  Still, on Thursday Ferrari exceeded analyst expectations by reporting revenue of 1.94 billion euros, or $2.2 billion, for its second quarter. The company also raised its outlook, guiding to 7.6 billion euros ($8.7 billion) through the rest of the year from 7.5 billion euros ($8.6 billion) previously. Vigna said the company’s order book was already full through 2027. Ferrari’s shares, which are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, were up 3% as of Thursday afternoon after the company reported its quarterly earnings.  “Ferrari rarely raises its guide in Q2, favoring instead to do so in Q3, and as such we view this a positive indicator for the remainder of the year and would expect shares to move higher,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Tom Narayan told CNBC.