They say publicity in any form, whether negative or positive, is ultimately beneficial for a brand. While the statement can be quite controversial, Ferrari’s global marketing director, Emanuele Carando, is abiding by that philosophy.
Ferrari’s first all-electric vehicle was unveiled in May, drawing a strong response, with many criticizing the Italian automaker for adopting an entirely new design.
Carando said the backlash was expected, but the intensity was underestimated. For Ferrari, though, the Luce became a content machine unlike any other recent Ferrari.
However, Ferrari’s share value dropped after the EV was revealed. But it looks like the company could offset that, given that it sold out all units in China.
Luce Was Capable of Marketing Itself
People often perceive Ferraris as powerful, red, fire-spitting supercars and hypercars with stiff suspensions that produce addictive internal combustion music. But the Luce EV is the opposite of that. It doesn’t run on gas, has no fire-spitting quad exhausts, and no ICE engine to produce rev-happy music.
Instead, the Luce looks like a regular car with two hoods placed one on top of the other. Ferrari is targeting a different customer segment, and selling out its allocation in China proves that those buyers exist. Guessing Headlights recently reported that Ferrari allocated 88 Luce models to China, and all of them sold out in no time.
Carando told Edmunds that Ferrari was “expecting a strong reaction, a very polarizing reaction,” after unveiling the Luce, but it never anticipated such a “magnitude” of backlash.
But for Carando, the attention made him happier. He added:
“Being a marketing director, I was very pleased. Ferrari is such a loved marque that belongs to everybody, and everybody has a right to say something about it. Still, whenever you develop something new, the novelty scares everybody.”
Luce EV Could Have Been Based on the Ferrari Purosangue
Carando said it would have been easy for Ferrari to replace the internal combustion engine on the Purosangue and put batteries in it. But it still chose to develop an entirely new car with a design exclusive to the Luce. He said:
“We could have taken the Purosangue, removed the 12-cylinder engine, and put the battery and electric in there, but we thought that would not have been the right decision.
“[We] made something we wouldn’t have been able to if we didn’t have this technology — a spacious car with a very short front hood, which allows the driver to be very close to the front axle, allowing you to have incredible precision in entering curves.”
Speaking of the Purosangue, Carando said the SUV also received backlash when it was launched a few years ago. Now though, the perception has changed. He said:
“This has happened before … remember when we launched the Purosangue four years ago? The magnitude was not the same, but we had many comments about Enzo Ferrari rolling in the grave. I think probably now the Purosangue is one of the most loved cars worldwide.”