Ferrari itself declined to comment, saying it would address the car’s reception at its half-year results on 31 July, but the numbers had already leaked ahead of the presentation.
For Ferrari, the timing is convenient. A sold-out order book is exactly the message investors will want to hear at Friday’s results, after a reveal that briefly turned the company’s most anticipated launch in years into a punchline.
The Luce is a strange object by Ferrari’s standards. It is a four-door, five-seat car, a family shape from a company built on two-seat sports cars, and it starts at €550,000, or around $640,000, which places it near the top of the range.
Its look is the part that caused the trouble. Designed by Jony Ive and Marc Newson through their LoveFrom studio, the Luce drew savage reviews at its Rome unveiling, with critics unable to reconcile the aerodynamic, slab-sided body with the badge on the nose.
The badge itself became a flashpoint. Luca di Montezemolo, the former Ferrari chairman, suggested the company should “at least take the prancing horse off,” a line that captured how far the design strayed from what buyers expect of the marque.
