To say that Ferrari’s first-ever electric vehicle, the Luce super luxury sedan, has been a controversial launch for the Prancing Horse would be quite an understatement.
Following the model’s unveiling in May 2026, everyone and their mother have voiced strong opinions on the Ferrari EV, most of which were negative. The Luce’s polarizing design has drawn the vast majority of criticism, including from investors, media and enthusiasts. But that does not seem to have had any detrimental effect on Ferrari Luce sales, quite the opposite.
Did the Controversy Help Ferrari Luce Sales?
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As it turns out, Ferrari has already hit the sales target for 2026 well ahead of schedule thanks largely to strong demand from China, Financial Times has reported. While Ferrari has not released the 2026 sales target for the Luce, two people with knowledge of the matter told the paper that the Italian company had the goal of selling just under 500 units this year.
One of the sources said the target had been reached earlier in July, just two months after the Luce’s controversial launch, when social media platforms were flooded with memes deriding the EV’s unconventional design, which many compared to far cheaper mass-market cars.
At the time, even former Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo called for the Luce to be stripped of the prancing horse badge, implying it does not deserve it. In the wake of the unveiling, Ferrari’s Milan-listed shares lost more than 8% in the first trading session.
The controversy surrounding the Luce continued in July with the sudden departure of Ferrari’s long-time chief marketing and commercial officer Enrico Galliera. Mind you, Ferrari said Galliera’s departure and replacement with a former BMW executive had been planned before the launch of the Luce.
Ferrari Reportedly Targets 2,500 Luce Sales by 2030
Well, it looks as though the controversy did not hurt the Luce’s market reception. Ferrari has stood behind the product, which it described as a technology showcase targeting a new generation of affluent buyers, especially in China and technology hubs such as Silicon Valley.
The uptake of the Luce is particularly strong in China while feedback from U.S. tech entrepreneurs has also been positive, people close to Ferrari told FT.
Ferrari
In the long term, Ferrari targets about 2,500 Luce sales by 2030, or about 600 units each year, FT reports. That’s only 5% of the company’s total annual sales and many analysts consider the target achievable. And since the Luce will not make up a large chunk of total sales, it won’t hurt the brand’s industry-leading operating margin of 30%, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna said.
Ferrari will auction the first Luce production car for charity at Monterey Car Week in August, with the specially configured example expected to rack up more than $1.1 million, according to RM Sotheby’s. A standard Ferrari Luce starts at around $640,000 in the United States.
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