Market BACKLASH: Ferrari’s EV Stumbles Hard

Ferrari’s first fully electric vehicle just erased roughly €3 billion in market value in a single trading session — and the car hasn’t even fully launched yet.

Story Snapshot

Ferrari shares dropped more than 6% in Milan trading after the unveiling of the Luce, the brand’s first fully electric vehicle, priced at approximately $640,000.
Critics and longtime fans compared the four-door, five-seat design to a Nissan Leaf or a Honda, with some calling it a “bloated minivan” that betrays Ferrari’s identity.
The interior was co-developed with legendary Apple designer Jony Ive, a choice that drew its own wave of criticism alongside the exterior reveal.
Ferrari insists the Luce represents a deliberate new category within the brand, not a replacement for its traditional sports car lineup.

A Stock Shock Tied to Brand Identity

Ferrari’s stock, traded under the ticker symbol RACE, fell 6.27% in Milan on May 26, 2026, dropping to €290.55 per share and wiping out roughly €3 billion in market capitalization in a single day. Reports indicated the shares had fallen as much as 8% in premarket trading before partially recovering. The sell-off was a direct market response to the public unveiling of the Luce, Ferrari’s first fully electric vehicle, which carries a price tag of approximately $640,000 and is expected to arrive as a 2027 model.

The backlash was swift and broad. Online commenters described the car as “giving Waymo vibes,” and one widely shared reaction called the design “somehow worse than I could ever have imagined.” Social media posts compared the Luce unfavorably to mass-market electric vehicles, a particularly stinging comparison for a brand that has built its identity on exclusivity, performance, and unmistakable visual drama. The reaction reflects a tension that has surfaced repeatedly when heritage performance brands attempt to electrify: critics argue the soul of the car gets lost in the transition.

What the Luce Actually Is

The 2027 Ferrari Luce arrives with 1,050 horsepower, a 12.5-inch center touchscreen display, a four-door five-seat body configuration, and a cabin Ferrari describes as “a single, clean volume, with forms simplified and rationalised in the service of driving.” The interior design was a collaboration with Jony Ive, the former Apple designer responsible for the look of the iPhone and iMac. Ferrari framed the Luce as a deliberate new category within its lineup rather than a replacement for its traditional sports cars.

Ferrari’s in-house design studio, Centro Stile, led by Flavio Manzoni, handled the exterior. The company had previously announced a three-phase reveal strategy for the car, meaning the full design picture was still not completely disclosed at the time of the backlash. Some critics argued that releasing the Luce under a separate sub-brand — similar to how Ferrari once used the “Dino” name for more accessible models — could have insulated the core Ferrari brand from the reputational fallout the reveal triggered.

Heritage Brands and the Electrification Trap

The Luce controversy fits a recognizable pattern. When a heritage brand electrifies, the criticism tends to focus less on raw specifications and more on perceived betrayal of identity, sound, and purpose. Ferrari is not the first performance marque to face this reaction, and the early intensity of fan outrage does not automatically predict long-term consumer rejection. Launch backlash is common; durable brand damage is harder to establish and typically depends on whether actual buyers — not forum commenters — walk away.

Ferrari shares sank 6% after the company unveiled the Luce, its first fully electric vehicle. Priced around €550,000 ($640,000), the five-seater—co-designed with ex-Apple chief Jony Ive—drew online backlash for its unconventional design. Wall Street advises to "buy the dip,"…

— Leinona Aoki (@LeinonaA69) May 27, 2026

That distinction matters here. The available evidence shows a sharp immediate trading reaction and a wave of negative commentary, but it does not yet establish sustained demand loss or lasting erosion of Ferrari’s customer base. Ferrari’s core clientele has historically remained loyal through controversial product decisions, and the Luce’s $640,000 price point targets a narrow pool of ultra-wealthy buyers who may weigh the car’s specifications differently than the enthusiast community driving the online conversation. Whether this becomes Ferrari’s defining misstep or a forgotten controversy depends on what buyers, not critics, ultimately decide.