Ferrari presents electric Luce to Pope as purists recoil and markets waver
The first all-electric Ferrari, shown to Pope Leo XIV, drew scathing attacks from former chiefs and Italian politicians, while a stock drop and separate AI design blunder at Porsche underlined the luxury auto sector’s rocky shift.
In a scene drenched in symbolism, Ferrari executives delivered the marque’s first fully electric model, the Luce, to Pope Leo XIV at Castel Gandolfo on Tuesday. The pontiff inspected the five-seat, 1,050-horsepower grand tourer, its name meaning “light” in Italian, intended to illuminate the road ahead for the 80-year-old brand. Ferrari President John Elkann presented the steering wheel as a gift, and the moment was read from Rome to São Paulo as a plea for benediction over a car that has already become a lightning rod.
Viewed from Milan, the blessing was sorely needed. Within hours, shares of the company tumbled more than eight per cent on the Borsa Italiana, as former chairman Luca di Montezemolo called the Luce an “aesthetic insult” that should not wear the prancing horse. Senior politicians joined the pile-on; Matteo Salvini said it looked like anything but a Ferrari, while former industry minister Carlo Calenda branded it a technological and stylistic offence. The design, by the studio of former Apple design chief Jony Ive, had aimed to craft a fresh silhouette for a new clientele, but for many Italian purists it severed too abruptly from the shrieking V12s that built the myth.
The unease is not confined to Maranello. Across the luxury automotive world, the embrace of new technology is proving fraught. A parallel scandal erupted when Epic Games removed a promotional image of a Porsche Cayenne Turbo Electric from its Fortnite channels after users spotted telltale signs of artificial intelligence generation—distorted window counts, illegible badges, and an unexplained logo resembling that of Riot Games. The episode, analysed by Israeli tech watchers, highlighted the perils of substituting algorithmic flair for craftsmanship in a sector where authenticity is currency.
Meanwhile, on the ground in Argentina, Lexus has quietly expanded its premium electrified offensive with the RZ 500e, its first fully electric SUV for the local market, and an updated IS 300h hybrid saloon. The move illustrates an uneven global rollout: while European and North American markets grapple with the emotional and financial cost of the electric switch, manufacturers in emerging luxury corridors are betting that affluent buyers value the technology more than the soundtrack.
The Ferrari Luce will not, by the company’s own multi-energy strategy, replace combustion engines overnight. Yet the collision of reverence for heritage, political grandstanding, and investor anxiety that greeted it suggests the industry’s path forward will be neither silent nor smooth. As one São Paulo analyst noted, the real question is not whether the electric luxury car will sell, but which legacy brands can survive the identity crisis its arrival provokes.
How the same story is told elsewhere.
In Italy, the electric Ferrari is splitting opinion: some see it as an insult to the brand's heritage, while others celebrate it as an inevitable step forward. The papal audience turns the launch into an almost theological matter, with former bosses calling for the removal of the Prancing Horse emblem itself.
Across the Alps, the Ferrari drama is met with mockery: the Luce is portrayed as a soulless gadget, an iPhone on wheels destroying a legend. The Pope's involvement becomes just another sign that this electric car needs divine intervention to be accepted.
In Latin American markets, Ferrari's first electric car is met with skepticism: the stock slump and fierce criticism from former bosses fuel the perception of a misstep. The presentation to the Pope is read as a marketing stunt or an act of faith in an uncertain future.
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