Criticism of the electric car's design? Ferrari is laughing last
Despite harsh criticism from brand enthusiasts, Ferrari has sold out its entire production allocation for the Ferrari Luce electric vehicle. The majority of sales were recorded in the Chinese market.
After an abundance of criticism regarding the design of the electric Ferrari from brand enthusiasts, Ferrari is laughing last: according to reports in the "Financial Times", the company sold out its entire production allocation of the Ferrari Luce, its electric car, as early as the beginning of this month. The bulk of the sales were in the market Ferrari targeted from the start: China.
As recalled, when the Ferrari Luce was unveiled, it received heaps of scorn from traditional brand enthusiasts who criticized the design, the electric powertrain, the operating systems, and the performance. In fact, the divisive design of the Luce also caused quite a few storms within Ferrari itself: Luca di Montezemolo, the legendary Ferrari chairman who served until 2010, demanded that the prancing horse emblem be removed from the front of the Luce because it is a car that is a source of embarrassment for Ferrari. Enrico Galliera, head of Ferrari's marketing department, resigned not long after the Luce was introduced.
The main reason for the criticism against the Luce was, of course, the design: unlike classic Ferrari models of the past that were designed by Italian design houses ("carrozzerias") - Pininfarina, Bertone, and others - the Luce was designed by Jony Ive, a former designer at Apple, in a way that did not resemble anything Ferrari had ever created. Ferrari itself never announced production quotas, but according to the report, it involves "less than 500 units" that were sold in China at a price of almost 4 million yuan, or 580 thousand dollars. The next allocations for the Chinese market will be supplied only next year.
Meanwhile, Ferrari made adjustments to the company's reports and announced that according to the latest forecast, the company's revenues this year will be higher than the initial forecast thanks to "exclusive" models, meaning models by special order. For most car manufacturers, the model range, whether it is mass-market models or manufacturers of sports and luxury models (for example, Porsche), the supply is relatively uniform. But at Ferrari, it is a different operating principle: given the fact that the company's production volume is relatively limited (last year it produced 13,640 cars) and in light of the fact that the customers are in part multi-millionaires, Ferrari can afford to produce special models for a limited clientele. These are special-order models where the cost of the additions installed in them, both in terms of equipment and performance, allows it to earn millions of additional dollars per vehicle.
According to Ferrari, the main expected growth in the manufacturer's results stems from two models: the F80 and the Ferrari Purosangue. The adjusted annual profit, according to Ferrari, is expected to stand at 2.97 billion euros, a slight increase compared to previous forecasts. In the case of the Ferrari F80, the manufacturer declared in advance that the supercar, whose price is 3.6 million euros, will be produced in only 799 copies.
