The Problem with the Ferrari Luce EV Offers a Lesson for Every Leader

jeffrallen

It should not be a surprise that if you hire Ive to design something, it's gonna look like an iPad. It should not be a surprise that Ferrari stakeholders don't want an iPad car. This is just gross incompetence all around. Above all, Ive had an ethical responsibility to protect his clients from harming themselves by refusing the commission.

gbil

I hope that at least they keep the one great thing from this exercise, the controls-UI bundle. Looks really great, intuitive and unique enough for the brand

michaelteter

I don’t possess the design vocabulary to properly roast the design, but it looks like an amateur’s first sketch at a “car of the future”. Or it look like a modern successor to the Pontiac Aztek. I can only imagine what the Italian designers have to say about it…

Lucas12546

When I first saw this car, I thought it was ugly and expensice. Look at Chinese cars, they're cheap, stylish, and comfortable. I really envy Chinese people who can buy those cars.

Mashimo

The inside looks so freaking cool: https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/auto/ferrari-luce-design Look at those tactile buttons and knobs. For cruise control and wipers. And the flip switches for Infotainment / climate. The "LUNCH" mode button that you have to pull and then shows a glowing ring. Feels 90s science fiction. I wonder if I can 3D print a replica, not sure for what yet, but I want it. It's literally inspiring for me. The outside though :(

vmsp

With the kind of press it’s getting, I bet this model will outsell all others made in the last 10y. I don’t remember the last time a Ferrari was on the news.

kumarvvr

I just want to know what exactly is wrong with it? I get the history with Ferrari cars and their aesthetic and all. But it looks like what one would expect from the man who designed iPhone.

mellosouls

Its ugly and not fast for its class, even compared to much cheaper cars. That's a paradigm shift for Ferrari which has always been associated with exclusive performance and beauty - and the removal of that USP is why it is seeing such pushback.

bdcravens

I know there's reasons they don't, but just take a form factor that is already loved, and stick an EV drive train in it. There's nothing about electricity that requires everything to look like something from Star Wars.

DeathArrow

Ferrari devalued their brand. From manufacturing luxury vehicles they are now manufacturing gadgets. If someone is interested in buying a tablet on wheels, he can shop Tesla or Xiaomi, they don't need a Ferrari.

jrmg

Isn’t it kinda traditional for people to say new Ferrari models are ‘ugly’ and ‘not a Ferrari’?

TheAlchemist

Hilariously, the quote that comes to my mind when reading about this monstrosity, is one from Steve Jobs "Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you". Ferrari sells dreams. That's not a car anybody will dream about.

DeathArrow

There's a reason why the top Swiss brands don't manufacture quartz watches. From some point on, people buy stories, experiences, luxury. Gadgets don't provide the same experience.

lovlar

I had a conversation with my industrial design teacher at university once about how slight ugly and uncommon design might have a positive effect on consumer demand over time. I don’t know if there is a psychological term for that phenomena in design but I think it’s related with mere-exposure effect [1]. A design that stands out and is uncommon, will evolve a deeper relationship over time with the observer than a well-polished predictable design. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere-exposure_effect

dist-epoch

This is exactly the Innovator Dilemma at work. Ferarri took the bold action to not be tied with it's past. One of their director explicitly said they used an external design company to intentionally to avoid a minor refinement of its ICE cars. They knew how this car will be perceived, if only because surely there must have been fierce internal resistance.

randomNumber7

"Know your place" is what came to my mind when I looked at this. I get that they think about going away from the combustion engine, but as a manufacturer of insanely expensive, loud and overpowerd sports car this doesn't make sense. It's like if I as a software dev would be worried about the future market and suddenly advertise myself as a psychologist in search for clients.

everyone

It's literally retro futuristic. Looks exactly like a concept car from the 80's

Sweepi

Regarding "The exterior looks like an iPad since Jony Ive designed it": Marc Newson is also on the team, and there striking similarities to (t)his 27 year old concept car[1]: https://marc-newson.com/ford-021c-concept-car/ Regarding the UI: This is miles ahead of any other digital cockpit made by Ferrari. Also pretty good overall. [1] via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48271629#48278841

danbruc

Ignore that car, but what is this? This is a brand that permanently banned Paris Hilton for painting her Ferrari pink, Kim Kardashian for modifying her 458, and Justin Bieber for wrapping his in neon blue. Where does that fall on the line between your product, your rules and I bought the thing, I own it, I paint it blue? My gut reaction was that this should totally not be legal, neither telling people how to paint their car, nor telling them what [not] to do with it, or to which places they can take it, seriously? And also banning people from buying one to enforce this.

thefz

I am Italian. I recognize Ferrari is one of our most iconic and exported brands. Also I could not give any less fucks about the new Ferrari, the fact that it's ugly, the fact that it's probably going to tank or be a hit. They and their products are so detached from the lives of 99.9999999% of the population. Also, what do you expect from a guy that used to design computer mice.