Ferrari’s first electric car sparked ridicule when it was unveiled on May 25. It was called any and everything from a ‘Magic Mouse on wheels’ to a dishwasher or microwave, and even considered a late April Fool’s joke by some fans. Even a former Ferrari president and chairman hoped the company would take off the prancing horse emblem from the Luce, saying Ferrari was “risking the destruction of a myth.”
It looks like that ridicule hasn’t stopped buyers: Ferrari’s Luce, with a $560,800 starting price, has a buyer for every car Ferrari plans to build in 2027, and wealthy buyers are lining up for the glass-roofed EV before they even get the chance to test drive it. CEO Benedetto Vigna told analysts on Ferrari’s Q3 earnings call on Tuesday that Luce deliveries for 2027 are all spoken for despite client test drives being planned for early next year.
“All the Luces that we plan to sell next year, basically, are all allocated, so if someone comes, he has to wait one year to get the cars,” Vigna said, though he didn’t mention how many units were sold.
Vigna also said Ferrari holding more than 50 local premieres and private viewings across the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific has helped express Luce’s “uniqueness better than any digital experience.”
The early interest for Luce is a reversal from its rocky debut, when Ferrari shares fell by as much as 8% and analysts wondered whether the car’s unconventional design–larger wheels, more rounded surfaces, and four doors–rattled investors who valued Ferrari for its luxurious visual identity.
“While the vehicle promises performance consistent with Ferrari’s standards, investors appeared underwhelmed by its exterior design,” Rella Suskin, an equity analyst at Morningstar, wrote in a note after the release. “Ferrari’s design identity is an important component of its brand equity, supporting scarcity, pricing power, and aspirational desirability.”
But Vigna, who enlisted LoveFrom, the firm founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, to build Luce, has defended his breakaway from tradition. He told analysts on the Feb. 10 Q4 2025 earnings call that Luce wouldn’t please everyone, but that it’s still a Ferrari car first and EV second.
“What I can tell you, I can guarantee you is that we will not sell this car to people that do not want the car,” he said. “Because this is a car, Ferrari Luce, that is also electric. It’s not an electric car.”
Ferrari is also taking a gamble with Luce as its competitors are reconsidering their EV ambitions because of weaker demand. Lamborghini scrapped its plan to roll out its first fully electric car in 2028, and Porsche—which announced its first electric sports car Taycan seven years before Ferrari–is reportedly planning to end Taycan’s production by 2030. But Ferrari is pressing ahead with Luce—Italian for “light”—which Vigna described as “illuminating the path ahead” for the brand.
This innovation also comes as Ferrari’s core business continues to grow. The carmaker reported €1.9 billion in Q3 revenue, up 7% from a year earlier, and €563 million in operating profit, fueled partly by buyers spending more to customize their cars. CFO Antonio Picca Piccon told analysts personalization made up more than 21% of total revenues from cars and spare parts, which he said “exceeded our expectations.”
Ferrari did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
