Montezemolo slams Ferrari's embrace of electric motoring amid backlash in Italy over Luce car.Ferrari's first fully electric vehicle - unveiled on Monday and called Luce - has sparked criticism from politicians, investors and the brand's former long-serving president.  The four-door, five-seat grand Luce, priced at €550,000, was co-designed by Ferrari's own Centro Stile and LoveFrom, the creative collective of British designer Sir Jony Ive, best known as Apple's former chief design officer.   Powered by four electric motors producing 1,050 horsepower, the Luce reaches 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds and has a top speed of 310 km/h, with first deliveries expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. Reaction Amid a storm of criticism over the new vehicle, Ferrari's Milan-listed shares fell 8.4 per cent on Tuesday, while its New York-listed shares dropped 5.1 per cent.   Fabio Caldato, portfolio manager at AcomeA SGR, a Ferrari shareholder, said the share price movement reflected investor concern about both the car's aesthetic and the broader implications of expanding the range into electric models.   The sharpest rebuke came from Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who led Ferrari in various capacities for more than 20years before stepping down in 2014 and is widely credited with rescuing the brand from its difficulties in the early 1990s.   Speaking on the sidelines of a Confindustria assembly in Rome, he warned that the car risked destroying a legendary brand and said he hoped Ferrari would remove the Prancing Horse logo from it.   Former Ferrari chairman Montezemolo tears the new electric Ferrari “Luce” apart:“I cannot say what I really think: I would harm Ferrari. We risk the destruction of a legend. So sorry. Take the Prancing Horse off. At least the Chinese won’t copy this car” pic.twitter.com/3qYirOSCjH — Antonello Guerrera (@antoguerrera) May 26, 2026 Italy's deputy premier and transport minister Matteo Salvini was equally scathing, posting on X that the car looked nothing like a Ferrari and questioning what company founder Enzo Ferrari would make of it. Opposition politician Carlo Calenda, who worked at Ferrari from 1998 to 2003, called the Luce an "aesthetic and technological insult" to anyone who loves the brand, and took the opportunity to criticise Ferrari chairman John Elkann more broadly over the fortunes of other companies in the Agnelli empire. Pope and president Not everyone was negative. Some enthusiasts hailed the car as a gamechanger, and Ferrari moved quickly to present the Luce at the highest levels of Italian public life.   Elkann, CEO Benedetto Vigna and vice-chairman Piero Ferrari took the Luce to the Quirinale Palace to show it to Italy's president Sergio Mattarella, with Elkann describing it as a model that carries Ferrari's values into the future.   Elkann then presented the car to Pope Leo XIV at his residence in Castel Gandolfo, calling the meeting a moment of extraordinary human and symbolic value that would remain in Ferrari's history.   In a statement, Ferrari also announced that the public would be able to see the car a free event in Rome on 30 May, reflecting on its longstanding ties to a city where Ferrari driver Franco Cortese achieved his first race victory on 25 May 1947.   Photo Ferrari

Italy's deputy premier and transport minister Matteo Salvini was equally scathing, posting on X that the car looked nothing like a Ferrari and questioning what company founder  would make of it.