Background: Ferrari was founded in 1939 and has grown into one of the world's most iconic automotive brands through its sports cars, Formula 1 presence, and global merchandise business. A big part of Ferrari's appeal has always been exclusivity, with the company deliberately limiting production to just 13,000 cars each year to maintain scarcity and brand prestige.

What happened: Ferrari has now launched its first fully electric vehicle, the Luce, which is Italian for "light." The vehicle carries a price tag of $900,000 (?!)... and was designed by Jony Ive, the designer behind products like the iPhone and iMac.

What else: Ferrari's chief marketing officer actually described the design as "polarising." The CMO literally said "To my petrol heads…please don't buy the Luce." It might sound like the opposite of CMO's job, but Ferrari's goal is to target people who already drive electric vehicles but want to own a Ferrari...rather than try to convince their petrol-heads to go electric. This type of brand extension is a pretty major gamble for the world’s most famous car company.

What's the key learning?

💡 Brand extension is when a company tries to stretch its identity into a new category, audience or product type - without losing the magic of the original. Expanding a luxury brand can be difficult because attracting new customers often risks alienating loyal ones.

💡 Ferrari's average customer is 52 years old, and the company now wants to attract younger, tech-focused buyers who already embrace EVs. But at the same time, it wants to still hold onto traditional Ferrari petrol heads.

💡 Ferrari's EV push comes at an awkward time in the market...

• Lamborghini recently walked away from its EV strategy
• Jaguar faced heavy backlash over its new brand direction and EV push

So it's no surprise that Ferrari has already adjusted its own expectations too by reducing its target for electric models from 40% of its lineup by 2030 to 20%.