The boss of Ferrari has defended its new €550,000 (£475,000) electric vehicle (EV) after its launch was met with widespread derision this week.
Benedetto Vigna, the company’s chief executive, said new and existing Ferrari customers had already placed orders for the Luce vehicle, despite a backlash from Italian politicians, former executives and car enthusiasts because of the design.
This included claims that the Luce closely resembled Nissan’s cheap, mass-market EV, the Leaf, which sells for about £32,000 in the UK. Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the company’s former chairman, said the Luce “risks destroying the myth” of Ferrari.
Speaking this week in Modena, Italy, Mr Vigna said: “Look at the people writing to us, the people placing orders. Some are existing clients and others are new. The final answer comes from clients.”
He defended the Ferrari Luce’s €550,000 price tag, saying: “Innovation has to be paid for. If you don’t pay for innovation, you wrong the people working on it, the supply chain that makes it possible and the technology itself.”
The launch of the Ferrari Luce on Monday marked the Italian carmaker’s first foray into EVs since the company was set up by racing driver Enzo Ferrari in 1939.
However, the reveal of the vehicle prompted a 6pc slump in Ferrari’s share price because of fears that the Luce risked damaging Ferrari’s reputation. Investors raised concerns that Ferrari’s launch could become a repeat of Jaguar Land Rover’s controversial failed rebrand.
Mr di Montezemolo, Ferrari’s former chairman, called for the carmaker’s prancing horse logo to be removed from the EV, while Matteo Salvini, Italy’s transport minister, criticised the Luce, calling it “outrageously expensive”. He said: “From an aesthetic point of view, it speaks for itself.”
This week, some commenters online claimed the Luce was not only similar to the Nissan Leaf but was indistinguishable from the “anonymous” Chinese EVs now surging into Europe.
Mr Vigna dismissed this criticism on Thursday, saying: “The Ferrari Luce has nothing to do with electric cars you have seen from other players. You have to see it and drive it to understand that it wasn’t copied – not the interiors, not the exterior, not the performance.”
He added that Ferrari would continue to make petrol vehicles, saying it would “make all types of powertrains”.
According to Bloomberg, Mr Vigna suggested some of the backlash may have been from people who thought Ferrari would make a pivot to only making EVs.
The Ferrari Luce has a top speed of 310km per hour (192 miles per hour) and can accelerate to 100km per hour in 2.5 seconds.
The design of the car was led by Sir Jony Ive, who was known for working closely with Steve Jobs on the designs for Apple products including the iPhone, Apple Watch and MacBook.