Episode summary
Ferrari’s $640,000 EV Is Quite a Stretch | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 8 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Hannah Elliott
Summary
Ferrari’s first fully electric vehicle, the Luche, drew backlash from critics who said its look was too ordinary for a brand built on elegance, handmade craftsmanship, and emotional combustion-engine appeal. Hannah Elliott said the reaction was especially sharp because this is Ferrari, not Tesla or Lucid, so a design that reminded people of a Honda Accord or a Tesla 3 felt like an affront to Ferrari loyalists.
Elliott argued that investors should care less about the car’s styling than about why Ferrari built it: it is a compliance vehicle meant to help the company meet emissions rules in Europe and globally so it can keep selling the models enthusiasts actually want. She said the backlash may be loud, but Ferrari only needs a small buyer pool, likely in Asia or the Middle East, to absorb the car.
She also said EVs are becoming commoditized, especially as Chinese automakers match or beat performance for far less money. That, she said, could strengthen the resale value of Ferrari’s combustion-engine and manual cars, while the Luche may function as a gatekeeping purchase for access to rarer Ferrari models.
Key takeaways
- Hannah Elliott said the Luche’s styling offended Ferrari loyalists because the brand is associated with sophistication, beauty, and handcrafted Italian design.
- Elliott said Ferrari built the EV mainly as a compliance car to satisfy emissions rules and preserve the core business of selling combustion models.
- She argued that EVs are increasingly commoditized because Chinese brands can match performance and technology for far less money.
- Elliott expects the backlash to support the secondary market for combustion-engine and manual Ferraris.
- She said the Luche is likely aimed at wealthy buyers in Asia and the Middle East, with some crossover from high-end Tesla owners.
Notable quotes
“If this was Lucid or Tesla that had come out with this car, I think people would be a lot happier with it”
“Ferrari made this car so that they will meet emissions and other regulations in Europe and globally”
“when everything starts to be able to be plugged in and it's just run on batteries”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts radio news.
You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg Radio. Shares of Ferrari did not fare as well as shares of Micron today. Ferrari shares fell in Italy more than 9% this after critics panned the look of its first fully electric vehicle.
It was a setback for the Italian supercar makers controversial push into EVs. You just spoke about this on the Simo cast. You said that influencers too were pushing back on what did they say it looked like?
Yeah, everyone was insulting this car, but it wasn't even an influencer. It was actually an analyst that said that it looked like a combination of a Honda Accord and a Tesla 3. — All right, we'll see what Hannah Elliot has to say about this. She's Bloomberg Pursuit staff writer and car critic. She's the co-host of the Hot Pursuit podcast. Sometimes Matt Miller joins her, but we want to talk to Hannah about this new Ferrari. First of all,
Hey, you get to drive all the cars. Are you going to get to drive this thing? — Yes, I I fully anticipate and look forward to driving it toward the end of the year. I'm told probably December. So, fingers crossed. I'm I'm calling Ferrari every day saying, "When can I drive it?" So,
And this is the type of thing. You'd fly to Italy to do this or would they bring it to the US? — Wherever they wherever they do the launch, I will I will meet them wherever in the world I need to go to drive the thing. Sometimes it's Italy, sometimes it's somewhere nice during the winter, like maybe Spain. A track in Spain would be good.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- luxury ev
- automotive industry
- vehicle design
- jony ive
- technology influence in automotive
Companies and tickers mentioned
- AAPL
- Ferrari
- Apple Inc.
Watch the episode
Watch “Ferrari’s $640,000 EV Is Quite a Stretch | Bloomberg Businessweek” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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