Ferrari’s $640,000 electric car is getting roasted online—and its former chairman says it risks ‘destruction of a myth’

Ferrari's first EV, the Luce, drew sharp criticism from former chairman Luca di Montezemolo and online commentators, with investors sending shares down as much as 8% in Milan. The car is priced at 550,000 euros ($640,000) and is central to Ferrari's long-term EV strategy, which still targets 20% fully electric models by 2030. Despite the negative reaction, management reiterated the plan and analysts said Ferrari's brand strength may still support demand.

Analysis

RACE is now in the classic post-event air pocket where brand narrative, not product fundamentals, drives the next move. The key second-order risk is that the market is pricing Ferrari as a luxury scarcity asset with quasi-consumer-staple pricing power; any perception that management is forcing “tech for tech’s sake” can compress that premium faster than a weak sales print. The initial selloff looks less about the EV itself and more about whether the company is diluting the emotional moat that supports an elevated multiple versus other high-end automakers.

The deeper issue is mix risk over a 6–18 month horizon. Ferrari’s valuation assumes that new product categories expand the addressable customer base without cannibalizing the old one, but EVs remove the sound-and-ceremony elements that justify supernormal willingness to pay; if the Luce normalizes Ferrari into a generic ultra-premium EV slot, the market may start haircutting terminal margin assumptions. In that case, the hit would first show up in order-book quality and residual values, then in a lower forward multiple long before unit volumes are affected.

The contrarian view is that the selloff may be overdone in the near term because Ferrari’s customer base is not shopping on utility metrics, and controversy can actually reinforce exclusivity if supply stays tightly controlled. A weak-looking launch can still become commercially successful if allocations remain scarce and the company positions the car as a collector artifact rather than a mass EV. That said, the bigger overhang is governance credibility: management is asking investors to believe it can lead in both legacy ICE and EVs, so execution slippage on either side would be punished disproportionately.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Short-term: fade the bounce in RACE via call spreads or a small outright short into strength over the next 1–3 weeks; target a retracement of the event-driven unwind with tight risk above the post-launch gap high.
• Medium-term: maintain a bearish RACE relative-value stance versus premium auto peers with stronger EV acceptance, using a pair trade long P911 / short RACE for 3–6 months if Porsche execution remains cleaner.
• For options accounts: buy 3–6 month RACE puts or put spreads to express downside to brand-premium compression; structure for a 2:1 to 3:1 payout if the market starts discounting margin or multiple erosion.
• If management data in the next earnings call shows no deterioration in order book or pricing, cover 50% of bearish exposure; the fastest reversal catalyst is evidence that wealthy buyers treat the car as collectible, not comparable.