It sure feels this morning like there was no way to design the electric Ferrari Luce that wouldn’t have made people mad. The company’s stock fell today in Milan as the online reaction was, if not universally negative, at least mostly grumpy. I think there was a way, though, and it’s if literally anyone else built it.
The Morning Dump doesn’t traffic in rumors, but the chatter overnight was that this design was an evolved version of the abandoned Apple Car. This rumor comes via the car design community and, as should be clear by now, car designers are all caustic, incurable gossips. I have my doubts about this, yet it does make me wonder if all this negativity would persist if any other brand in the world debuted the exact same car.
Branding is important! This is something Mazda is thinking about as it tries to reach for 500,000 annual sales. What is the Mazda brand? To that end, what is the Honda brand if it completely abandons electric cars? At least some of the original EV work might live on in the company’s hybrids.
Today seems to be about questions, and I schlepped down to the Council on Foreign Relations last week to watch a debate about the government owning shares in companies–a thing that really happened to the car industry–to see if anyone could convince me it’s a good idea.
The Ferrari Luce Is The Latest Victim Of Expectation
Like all good people of taste, I’m a big fan of the Ford 021C concept, penned by the same Marc Newsom who is partially responsible for the Ferrari Luce. While the two cars are approaching very different problems, there are aesthetic similarities and overlapping vibes. So why is it that I like the former and am bothered by the latter?
Ferrari is a luxury brand first, and carmaker second, so what a car represents is just as important as how it drives (which is probably great, since it’s a Ferrari). I shot a documentary about a prominent Ferrari owner and met a lot of other Ferrari collectors while doing work for the brand in a previous life, and I feel qualified to say that I’m not qualified to say what they’ll end up buying or liking.
I am only really capable of knowing what I like, and as a $64,000 Nissan I really like the Luce. As a $640,000 Ferrari it’s a lot harder to swallow a car that looks nothing like any other Ferrari.
The Bishop sent that to me last night, and there are versions of it all over social media with various badges. Honda. Tesla. Whatever. They all work. Now do the opposite and imagine a Nissan logo on an Amalfi. It doesn’t work, right?
What about the Apple Car? This new project is the first car from the mega design duo of iPhone designer Jony Ive and Marc Newsom. You can clearly see this in the interior, which I like, and think does a successful job of updating the Ferrari aesthetic for an EV future. While there may be some crossover with the planned Apple Car, I think most of the interior feels Italian GT in the best sort of way. The Apple Car was also reportedly supposed to be taller and more van-like, which this clearly isn’t.
Designers recycle. This is the way of the world. The guy who did the PT Cruiser went to GM and made the HHR. If someone didn’t buy Giugiaro’s design, he pretty much always peddled it somewhere else. The modern Genesis sedans and SUVs sure do look Bentley-ish, don’t they? I’m sure some ideas made it from the Apple Car to Ferrari.
The challenge is that the design is so blank slate that even the Ferrari touches are hard to separate from whatever else is going on here. This seems to be impacting the perception of the company, as Bloomberg notes:
The car looks like a “mix between a Honda Accord EV and Tesla 3,” Pierre-Olivier Essig, head of research at AIR Capital wrote in a note. “We are lost in translation with Ferrari’s new strategy.”
The launch also comes as demand for high-end electric vehicles has become harder to predict and some rivals like Lamborghini and Porsche AG have slowed their electrification plans, citing a lack of buying interest.
The share price plunge followed a presentation in Rome on Sunday that marked the final stage of a three-step reveal of the EV that began last year with the car’s core technology and later showed its interior.
The Milan-traded shares are at about 7.0% down as of writing this, while the company’s NYSE-traded shares are down about 3-4% this morning. It seems like other people are having a hard time understanding this, as well.
I think if you had Jony Ive and Marc Newsom unveiling this as a Honda people would have loved it.
What Is The Mazda Brand?
Larry Vellequette from Automotive News did a sit down with Mazda’s North American CEO Tom Donnelly, and a lot of talk was about branding. What is the Mazda brand? Is the idea of the Mazda brand in my head the same as the Mazda brand in your head? This is Donnelly’s concern:
What keeps me up at night is if you walked out of this hotel or this building and you asked 10 people, “What does Mazda stand for?” you’d get 10 different answers. That is my “keeps me up at night” thing. [At our meeting], we proceeded to try to lay out how we fix that, how we improve that situation so that we achieve the 500,000 sales, so that our dealers become more profitable, that we develop long-term, lasting, lifetime relationships with our customers. Just be a stronger, better brand.
The big thing that is at the heart of your question is that very thing: The products are the products, the people are the people, the dealers are the dealers. But if you don’t have a strong brand that people desire, you’re going to keep sliding backwards in this environment.
It’s tough. I’m a Mazda fan and have often steered people towards getting one. To me Mazda represents something that’s a little more distinct, a little better handling, and slightly more premium than what you can get from other Japanese automakers. That’s a bit diffuse, though, right?
I think the Mazda3 nicely fits in that, as does the Mazda CX-50. The new CX-5 is a bit more safety-forward and tech-forward. The CX-90 is a bit more luxury-forward. The Miata is like my Old Spice deodorant: Pure Sport.
How does one square all of that?
Honda Will Recycle Some Of The 0 Cars Into New Hybrids
People are upset we’re not getting the Honda 0 electric cars. I am not one of those people, although I recognize the wastefulness. That’s a lot of work, and I feel for the people who did that work. I also kind of like the 0 Saloon. It’s a bummer that won’t get made.
According to Hans Greimel, not all of it is going to waste:
Hybrids ”will be included across all models” with a few exceptions, such as the performance-oriented gasoline-powered Civic Type R, Managing Executive Officer Kazuhiro Takizawa said.
The hybrid focus provides political cover, offering electrification without full dependence on large-scale battery supply chains or charging infrastructure that could face policy headwinds.
Honda plans to introduce 15 hybrid models globally by fiscal 2029, separate from whatever emerges from the flexible next-generation EV-hybrid platform.
Some of the 15 upcoming hybrids will be updates to existing nameplates, while others will be new. Honda will also repurpose some of its next-generation 0 Series EV architectures and components in the upcoming gasoline-electric lineup, [CEO Toshihiro] Mibe said.
I wonder what that’ll look like.
Should The Government Own Shares In Private Companies?
I get invited to a lot of events, though this is the first time I’ve been invited to one at the Council on Foreign Relations, which is one of those think-tanks that either promotes an informed and much needed bipartisan view of America’s role in the world or upholds a deeply corporate, uncomfortably neoliberal status quote among policymakers depending on your own personal politics. I think of it as a place that was quite liberal with drinks and tacos.
Honestly, when I walked up to the gates it felt like maybe someone was playing a joke on me. The young man with the iPad greeting people didn’t have my name and I was just about ready to walk back out onto Park Avenue when a media person for CFR goes “Matt Hardigree?” and escorted me to the press section.
The reason I think I was invited was because the topic of the ongoing series “Open to Debate” was about government investment in private companies via shareholding. Obviously, governments pour huge amounts of money to corporations, albeit rarely by holding shares. The most obvious example of this happening was the government acquiring equity in both banks and automakers during the Global Financial Crisis in order to keep the economy from collapsing.
That was an emergency, and I think the government did a reasonable job of accomplishing the end goal of saving Chrysler and General Motors, albeit with mixed results for both automakers. GM was forced to cut brands somewhat randomly, and many of the valuable parts of Chrysler got sold off at what feels like unreasonably low amounts.
“Open to Debate” is actually a debate, and has two sides wrangled expertly by host John Donvan, which is refreshing. In this case, the pro-side was represented by a pair of longtime government insiders (Laura Taylor-Kale from the Biden admin and Richard Falkenrath from the second Bush Admin), and the con-side being former Fidelity President Bob Pozen and academic Yasheng Huan. It’s a little more CX than LD if you were a nerd like me in high school.
As you can see in the video above (or linked here), it was a good time. It was also an almost impossible job for the pro-side in light of the current White House, which seems extremely open to the idea of owning corporations. The pro-side tried to have the conversations outside of the bounds of whatever President Trump is doing, which is essentially impossible. It was like trying to debate the infield fly rule during a t-ball game–there are 13 infielders, the rules don’t matter!
I think Prof. Huan summed up the con-side quite clearly:
“Government, for better or worse, is a much more complex entity as compared to a company. VC has a very straightfowrard objective function, we may criticize it, but they are going in for profits and profits alone. Government cannot focus on just one objective function, they have to take care of many many other things. When you have such complex objective goals, it’s difficult to judge on a single metric. Once you have multiple metrics, you dilute the management.”
Either way, the pro-side got spanked. At one point, Taylor-Kale tried to make the point that Congressional oversight lags too late for key industries and that in certain areas, like AI, there needs to be a way for the government to get involved early enough to protect national interests. I’d buy that, but there seem to be plenty of other ways to do it that are not specifically ownership, which, as Pozen pointed out, means the government is going to pick winners and that “government bureaucrats do not have the skills necessary to pick economic winners.”
It’s a fun series and Prof. Huan had the best line in the post-debate wrap up about the direct back-and-forth when he joked “I’m used to being treated badly, I’m an academic.”
If they do one of these on the Chinese car industry maybe I can get invited to debate.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
I was introduced to the idea of “Millennial Hopecore” as a musical sub-genre that takes a lot of the enveloping sound of stomp-clamp, but either in an electronic or indie rock-adjacent direction as opposed to something more rooted in folk and bluegrass. For instance, M83’s “Midnight City” is distinctly not stomp-clamp, but it’s also not purely indie either.
The Big Qusetion
What is Mazda’s brand to you?
Top photo: Apple/Ferrari
A 45-minute interview with Jony Ive and Ferrari Chief Designer Flavio Manzoni, linked below.
As a response to how different the Luce looks compared to contemporary Ferraris, Manzoni references the then-new F40’s wedge shape and its departure from the curvaceous styles of prior Ferraris. As I commented in the Autopian article about it, the Luce looks fine. I don’t get ‘Ferrari’ from it, but maybe that was the point, to differentiate the car from its ICE/hybrid siblings?
I believe it’s a 5 seater as the required space for the battery to provide somewhat reasonable range meant it’d be a longer car. Longer begs the question of what to do with the extra space between the front and rear wheels, and allows more gradual slopes from and rear, aiding aerodynamics.
Maybe the car’s gestation took too long, and missed the sale date by a year or more? The expensive BEV cars are now out of fashion. And, I’m left wondering for which market this car is intended. China? Europe? Silicon Valley?
It’s interesting to hear the ‘why’ of the Luce’s design from both Ive and Manzoni.
Jony Ive Shows Me The Most Controversial Ferrari Ever (Ferrari Luce)
Edit: fix link
I’d give the Luce props for the interior. Most of the design, its size and cost would still be unacceptable. Its still disgusting to look at from the rear 3/4s and behind.
Jony Ive and Marc Newsom are neither Italian nor car designers. They blandified this. Ferrari should have put the brakes on this thing. My guess is that it will only be made for one or two model years. I hope that both of them never touch another Ferrari. And, yes, it would have made sense to be an Apple car.
Mazda to me should be affordable, reliable and fun to drive. It is not a luxury or prestige brand. I have a 2012 CX-5 – I don’t like the idea of having an SUV as it is more car than I need but it’s fun to drive and looks good imo. Mainstream cars that give you what you need and drive better than the competition kinda like what euro fords were (I had a 2009 Fiesta 3dr manual base model new). It’s what Hyundai should be, but Hyundai instead of being the best to drive maybe gives you a bit more equipment. I have happily owned 4 mazdas (2 bjII 323s, an NC MX-5 and my current CX-5, plus we had a 626 as a learner car, my sister has had a 2 and a 3, my brother has a 3 and my dad had an NC. My mother in law had a 2 and has a CX-3).
“What does Mazda stand for?”
Poor craftsmanship and rust. SO MUCH RUST. After 3-4 years on the road, Mazdas are more rust than car.
Oh, and good luck trying to get Mazda to actually honour their “Anti-Perforation Warranty”.
That still the case? I don’t own a Mazda, but I don’t see many with rust problem. Seems to have gone away (to the unknowing outside not-actually-observer) in the late aughts.
My brother has a ~4 year old CX50 and while I haven’t crawled under it, it’s fine. The interior doesn’t seem to be aging well though. Cracks in the upholstery and some other stuff like that.
When I was shopping for Mazda5s, people told me the rust issues were bad before the 2012 refresh, but basically fine after that.
The dealer assured me that the rust issue was “taken care of” before I bought my 2003 P5 (I had ALREADY seen gen9 Proteges on the road with rust in the rear wheel wells, just a handful of years after the model debuted). They said the same thing when we bought our 2009 Mazda3 (by which time the P5 was heavily rusted). You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe a word of it when people tell me that the rust issue is “basically fine” now.
Understandable! My Impreza is still chugging, so I ended up not getting a 5, so I’ve still yet to drive a Mazda.
“Ferrari is a luxury brand first, and carmaker second”
Ferrari’s priorities are as follows in this order:
1. Motorsports
2. Pairing the right wine with lunch
3. Road Cars
4. Merchandise
If a wealthy man legitimately wanted luxury, he looked to Rolls or Bentley.
If he wanted speed and style, he considered Ferrari (and probably chose Porsche or Lamborghini instead, ask Jay Leno).
A Ferrari that seats 5 (implying a baby seat), looks significantly cheaper than its price tag (assuming you buy it new and not when it’s $100k used) and shares precious little with anything Ferrari itself runs on the track won’t get anyone excited.
So yeah would I feel better if it came from a company I don’t care about with no history or prestige in the space? Sure, I guess.
I think you have 3 and 4 flipped. In the US, we focus on the cars, but on their home turf in Europe, the branded merch is way more important as a lifestyle marker and way more important for the brand cloit and reach
Many important hand gestures were omitted from this post, especially concerning #2.
People only have one hand gesture for Ferrari this week.
I like the current Mazda product line. We have the CX-70 as well as the Hyundai Santa Fe and Acura MDX pencilled in as candidates to replace the Honda when it gets retired.
Surely Apple would own the intellectual property for that?
Unless someone is suggesting that this was somehow transferred to Jony Ive when (a) Apple cancelled the car project, and (b) he left Apple and got it as a leaving gift
Companies regularly purchase the ip of defunct or acquired companies or simply purchase the ip directly.
The point is that all design is derivative, not that this is THE Apple car.
Should the government own companies?
Wrong question. It should be “Should companies own the government?”
Similar to the whole military industrial complex argument (where one could argue the industrial side gets way too much control over the “need” side of the equation), one could argue the current corporate lobbing environment does the same thing.
Example – we get to pay corporations for tax prep software, even though the government recently spent a pile of money for the IRS to build a free one. The previous administration pushed to through, then the next administration came in and the corporations got the project killed.
And as others have pointed out, the whole idea of submitting your own tax filing is a bit ludicrous. They already know what you owe, so the could just send us a bill. If you want to contest it, file. But that’s too logical to ever happen.
“…the whole idea of submitting your own tax filing is a bit ludicrous. They already know what you owe, so the could just send us a bill. If you want to contest it, file. But that’s too logical to ever happen.”
That is literally how other countries operate.
I always just do my own taxes, I don’t pay for an accountant or tax software. Guess what, as you say, IRS knows exactly what I owe, the amount I calculated is sometimes different from their number, but they just send me a smaller refund back when that happens. People think they will get audited or something if they do the taxes wrong, that doesn’t happen.
Mazda is what BMW and VW never could be:
Well-engineered, reliable, relatively-affordable and entertaining cars.
Also that liquid red color is fizzy. When I think of Mazda I think of their 1/2 size Quattro coupe. I still want one.
Should the government own shares in companies?
When I was younger, Presidents used to put their finances into Trusts when they took office. All their assets were put into the hands of a firm that invested the assets into whatever they felt was best without any input from the President or even any knowledge other than “your account is worth this much today.”
My company is owned ultimately by a Sovereign Wealth Fund. The country behind the SWF doesn’t know offically that they own us. There’s a massively complex chain of VCs, Holding companies etc. that makes it hard to trace where the money backing my company comes from and hard for the country to know that they are backing my company. Nobody at my company is allowed to talk to the country in question.
This layered protection makes it very hard for a government offical to put his or her thumb on the scales. Add extremely strict public corruption laws and the temptation to play with the market to help the SWF is very low.
If the US did the same, then it could work. However, the US isn’t as strict with corruption laws and I’m sure there would be complete public knowledge of every single tiny company that the US had some money in and there would be a massive push to help companies the US owns stakes in which would lead to all sorts of corruption problems.
Great idea, you know they are still required to do that but senators and representatives are allowed to invest in any company even with secret data and passing laws to protect them
All pols are corrupt to a greater or lesser degree. The problem is, they make the laws that regulate them. Sort of a fox, henhouse situation.
“Some” head of state will get on their social account and suggest people buy stock in a company XYZ, including that company’s stock ticker symbol, a few days after they have bought that company’s stock. So, there’s that, too. Blatant corruption that the party in power seems to ignore. And both parties need to have their corrupt politicians removed from office.
The solution is to clean up your own side.
I don’t care what party you support, there are some corrupt jerks on your side. Most of us tend to turn a blind eye to them, because our party needs the numbers to stave off the complete jerks from the other party.
Thing is that I can’t keep the other side from running corrupt jerks. But I can prevent my side from doing so. Maybe this way, I can clean up my half of DC.
We all must hold every politician to account. Full stop.
I don’t have a purity test, and I vote every election. My personal thought right now is that our democracy and standing in the world has been notably weakened in the past 16 months. I’m hoping that we can recover as a nation, and as a member of the world community. Though I know that’d take decades and generations to earn back what was so quickly squandered.
I’m old enough that the quickened end the USA influence on world events (in a good way IMHO) won’t affect me as much as the next generation. I’m somewhat insulated from inflation and the degradation of democracy.
It’s just so sad and mind-numbingly frustrating that national politicians who pledge allegiance to the US constitution would rather cower and, they hope, keep their job than do what is morally the right thing when faced with a choice that a would-be-king makes. I wouldn’t have voted for Adam Kinzinger or Liz Cheney if I lived in their state prior to Jan 6, 2021, but I have a lot of respect for them. So many in Congress right now haven’t earned my respect and simply make me disgusted. This could have been avoided in January 2021 if those who proclaimed moral outrage would have steeled their spine for what was required.
So, yeah, throw out all those who put their party or themselves before the nation and national interests, regardless of party. Right now, I think the pendulum swings decidedly toward one party versus the other in who bends a knee to a cult of personality rather than uphold the ideals of our democracy. None of our elected politicians are perfect. Yet the world has seen imperfection personified on the world stage from the bully pulpit, much to our detriment.
I truly don’t know how the actions of the past 16 months can be understood to be anything other than disheartening. I’d be happy to hear specific examples of positive change, as I do think there have been a handful of lower level pluses. Yet the overwhelming side have been on the negative side.
The biggest problem I see with Trump is the erosion of institutions.
When I was a kid, Reagon was President. Reagon did not have a Republican congress. He had to go to Tip O’Neal and work with him to get stuff passed. It was messy, there was a lot of wheeling and dealing going on, but the nation was stronger for it.
When Clinton was President, he had to work with Newt. Again, this horse trading of “I’ll pass what you want, if you pass what I want” crap worked.
But since, I don’t know 2000 or so, Congress has broken. If your party has the Congress by a single vote, they will rubber stamp everything you want and tell the other party to pound sand. But as soon as they flip a seat or two, they won’t even talk to the president and the entire process grids to a halt. It’s normalized now.
Not only that, but look at this. Nixon lost a tight election which, it is rumored that he won, but for Chicago voting dead people. He did NOT protest, because that would have been more harmful for the Republic than JFK becoming president. If Nixon is taking a moral stand that is higher than you, something is wrong. Yet, I think every election from now on will be protested and questioned, even if it is a Reagon 1984 level blow out.
To begin to mend and stop the slide into oblivion, there needs to be national anti-gerrymandering legislation and an end to Citizens United.
Today, we can see how rampant gerrymandering has drawn extreme state districts when 9 out of 10 times the primary decides who wins the election.
Regarding dark money in politics, Hawai’i is on the cusp of new state legislation neutering Citizens United. And, the ‘Montana Plan’ referendum leads me to feel a little hopeful that it too will succeed.
All of the “fake news”, “alternative facts”, “I just need you to find me 11,780 votes”, “voter fraud”, “illegal immigrant votes”, etc. about the 2020 election are cuts into the flesh of our country, and meant to sow questions in the minds of those looking for someone to blame. I have asked some 25-30 people how they manage to remain hopeful, as I’d really like to believe the USA will survive the next 2.5 years. But I have so little faith that we will retain much of the respect we once did. The idiot in charge is helped and supported by his needy sycophants, and the spineless members of his party who abdicated their role as an equal branch of the government who could check his powers. Decency has left the White House. Corruption has slimed in to take its place. How Congress cannot see or willfully look aways appalls me, as it should every American. Clinton’s blowjob is nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing like what’s happening now. The DOJ’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is now even more self-serving to include another page with language to never again audit the president’s nor president’s family or associates or affiliates???! Actually give money to those who beat up cops trying to keep the US capitol secure? No disclosure of who applies, who receives nor the actual amount given, all overseen by the would-be king who can dismiss any of the 5 committee members at any time for any reason? If his party allows this to actually happen, we’ll be so far down a fascist hole I don’t know how many decades it’ll take to get out of it. If the USA would ever get out.
Why aren’t members of his party pushing back? Do they expect they’ll receive some of the $1.776B??? Truly, WTF?!
So much more I could say that in the end doesn’t seem to matter. I’m not standing outside cussing at the clouds, though that’s how it often feels.
https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/the-conversation/2026-05-12/heres-what-legislation-on-dark-money-will-do-for-hawaii
https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2026-03-13/ballot-initiative-to-restrict-dark-money-in-montana-elections-advances
https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1441086/dl
Yeah, the thing is that what an American SWF was working on would be public knowledge because of FOIA (Freedom of Information Act).
If you lean towards either side of the political divide in America, you can get notices from people that are firmly on one side or another on what products to buy or not buy. Get Jiff peanut butter because it supports Republican candidates, don’t get Jiff because it supports Republicans. Go to Disneyworld because they support LGBTQ+, Boycott Disney because they support LGBTQ+. I’m sure we have all heard that sort of stuff.
Now imagine the chaos if we could all figure out where the “privatized social security” SWF was putting money because of FOIA requests.
“Hey, my retirement fund is doing well because it invested in Halliburton! Is that a good thing?”
This is in addition to the opportunity of the corrupt in DC to want to put their thumb on the scale (hmm, we have money in RTX, which owns Raytheon, maybe we need an excuse to order more missiles).
I still have a 3 from Mazda’s zoom zoom era and to me it typifies what the brand at least used to be: a simple, reliable, and affordable car with driver focused inputs and interface.
It feels like it was designed by someone who likes driving, and I think it shows. nearly everyone who I’ve ever lent it to (including plenty of people with “nicer” cars) has made a positive comment to me about its driving dynamics and perceived “sportiness”.
In my mind that’s what Mazda’s core competency is and should be.
Correction: “is” is now “was” . The zoom zoom era is long over.
That’s the problem.
Mazda is a main line brand, but with a car person filter on all decision making.
My most pressing question stemming from this post may be about the M83 music video, the first time I saw it for a song that I otherwise know and like: Perhaps it’s just my particular viewpoint, but does anyone else find it weird that all these superpower kids appear to be white, blonde, and blue eyed?
I would not be mad about the Apple car. I have zero expectations for an Apple car.
The Luce just isn’t special. It looks like a Nissan Leaf to me -, at least close enough that I’m not going to pick at the differences. The interior is also nothing special. I’m sure they are nice materials, but they are arranged in a way that wouldn’t be out of place in an entry level vehicle.
I assume it will perform well, but so does the Taycan and that car looks worth it’s price tag.
My immediate comment yesterday was how much is the Luce the Apple car. Funny that I was far from alone in that thought.
I agree that some or even most of these designs aren’t in themselves bad designs they just don’t go with the brand and the price that brand prices their product. Old man Ferrari said you buy the engine you get the car. What is this you buy the electric motor, battery and electronics and get the car.
It also looks very Chinese because everyone is chasing the Chinese but the Chinese can do Chinese better then them. So they need to find themselves. They have been using Chinese components for decades so maybe stick to that until there is a way or reason not to. But the whole car doesn’t have to look or be Chinese. If this was an xpeng or nio for $100k maybe even close to $200k. I would go ok, Chinese economy isn’t great now, but sure. If it was an Apple or Nissan, I think it would be similar not sure right time but ok. Once you go over $200k it’s a different game. If they dug out a defunct euro brand with the $600k price maybe? You know the market of very rich people that buy anything because they think it’s exclusive. It’s exclusive to how many suckers they can sell it to for insane prices all right.
As far as Madza they have tried to make themselves premium they aren’t. They are a value economy brand that can have some nice features to almost feel premium. Just like Kia and Hyundai. Economy cars, small trucks , people movers, all economic whatever that looks like. Now it’s all cuvs except for 2, they should have been selling a small truck in the US as soon as they could make it work. Or saw the writing on the wall and got ahead of it. CX-30 goes for under $25k making it one of the cheapest cuvs around possibly only the trax cheaper now. The cx-30, mx-5 and the 3 are Mazda. Then cx-90 is a logical vehicle maybe a little over priced. The cx-5, or cx-50 whatever the deal is in the middle seems fine at step above the cx-30. But what purpose does the cx-70 serve is about the same price as the cx-90.
I don’t even know how they found a way to make this a $600k car.
If this thing was going to be as un-Ferrari as it is, they should have stripped out whatever costs are driving that price, slapped a Dino badge on it and let them go for $200k.
That seems like a very Chinese market answer and probably the right answer.
Ferraris are often financial instruments. It’s a lot easier to buy your new Ferrari when you know you can turn it around immediately for a profit (at least in the US) by selling to someone not special enough to be allowed entry to the F-club.
I don’t know if that will be the case with this vehicle.
When the Enzo came out, it was around the price of this car. If you got one, you could sell it immediately (possibly even before taking delivery) for double that.
I wonder how many F-club members will be forced to buy these to stay in the club.
That’s true but most of them people wanted to keep the enzos. And even other models at least for a while. With this I’m guessing instant hit. Maybe significant. But who knows it’s a weird market. The people I’ve known that were in the club don’t really think they just buy because the guy calls them up and says there is a new one. The same thing with high end watches. Then eventually they go to the dealer to thin out their stuff often on consignment.
“Many machines on Ix. New machines. Better than those on Richesse.”
Saw a Latin American market 2025 Mazda BT50 truck the other day. I want it.
If Ferrari as a brand means anything seeing a Ferrari in person should feel special, their cars should have undeniable presence that even those who don’t know them can still identify as something rare and desirable. Even though I will never be able to afford one for years its been the “if I win the lottery some day” brand, the brand that every other performance car is compared against. It’s the benchmark, the yardstick, whatever, but this is just some oozed out contraption that any other car maker could’ve done. And even if they do print money with it I have a hard time not seeing it be a short term cash grab at best that will dilute their brand and long term turn them into just another Italian car company with a glorious past and an indeterminate future.
So much this. I visited the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena a few years ago. Every car there is exquisite and tells a story of passion and desire.
TBQ: I’ll echo others that Mazda is still the zoom-zoom brand to me, not having driven anything outside of a Miata and a CX-50 recently. I don’t imagine that it’s enough in today’s world to say “our cars drive a lil better”. It’s good don’t get me wrong, I like that they still try. But it doesn’t necessarily make for a successful company.
And while they’re made some amazing cars, I dislike Ferrari as a brand so I won’t lose sleep over the Luce’s design or its effect on the stock price.
I’m not mad about the Ferrari EV, I just think it looks stupid. If it were a Nissan I would still think that, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Instead of answering the question, I’d like to go back to that branding thing:
The Morning Dump should be more proud of its brand. Today’s entry wasn’t the first time that you couldn’t tell you were getting your daily dose of Hardigree’s Thoughts On The Industry before you clicked through, and that’s a shame. There was no mention of it from the title text, and no Morning Dump text on the lead image.
This is the Morning Dump! Be proud of it!
EDIT: There _is_ a Morning Dump logo. It’s… not as obvious, I suppose, as the text.
Agreed. On Friday’s post I didn’t realize I was reading the Morning Dump until about 1/3 of the way into the article. I clicked back out and saw that there’s a logo, but no name any more.
Feels like the wrong way to handle an important daily post.
Agree with you on this. I’m wondering if someone has decided they need to try to present themselves more seriously. I hope not.
I was thrown as well.
I shouldn’t suddenly realize I’m reading The Morning Dump when surprised by the second splash.
Yeah, we’ve all been “holding it in” longer because we didn’t know it was Morning Dump time! What’s the deal?! Ha ha
Mazda has replaced Nissan for me. 3rd tier Japanese quality cars with a few in there that are kind of exciting for some crowds. they do kind of need a halo car though and probably a trucklet of some sort eventually. sadly they did not keep the Danger Ranger connection when they split with ford. Mazda is what made those little fellers so reliable in most people’s minds.
Mazda has an amazing looking truck. In Mexico. We dont get it in the US.
It might be easy to dismiss the Mazda’s whole Jinba Ittai “Horse and rider as one” thing as marketing, but at least it tells you they actually care about the driver and the driving experience. You’re not going to hear that philosophy out of carmaker like, to use an extreme example, Tesla.
When I was shopping for a small crossover for the family car, nothing I looked at was even close to comparing with the CX-30. Sure it’s not a sports car, but it’s substantially more driver focused than a HRV or Corolla Cross. Interior quality and exterior styling are a cut above as well.
I’d say if you’re an enthusiast that needs practical, affordable car but still want some style and a certain level of driver engagement it’s absolutely worth your time to test drive whatever size CX you need as part of your search.
Do you find the CX-30’s windows to be too small? ( visibility )
I’ve found forward visibility to be fine, but rear is arguably below average (although apparently not as bad as the similar Mazda3 hatch). When I check the mirrors to change lanes I just keep an eye out for the little blind spot monitor indicator. It’s kept me out of trouble so far *knock on synthetic leather*
Sorry, side visibility? Those windows just seem so tiny to me. I’m considering buying one.
Side is fine to me as well. I prefer smaller cars though, so ymmv.
Although for what it’s worth my wife wanted the crossover bodystyle for ride height and visibility, and she loves it and has never mentioned visibility being an issue. If you’re worried, though, definitely sit in or test drive one.
I’ve got a CX-30 Turbo and it’s visibility definitely isn’t the best. The side and front are about normal for a modern car with typical thick A-pillars for crash safety, but rearwards is not the best. That said, blind spot monitoring system on it is really solid and makes the tradeoff bearable. Best driving car in it’s class by far, and 320 lb-ft of torque in the turbo is very much more than adequate. Never in it have I been left to the mercy of someone on an on-ramp, I just mash the gas and get ahead when needed.
I always liked their old tag line, “Zoom, zoom!”. It spoke to the brand as being sporty. The have pivoted to design and affordable luxury. That feels more nebulous and harder to brand, at least to me.
That is essentially what sold my best friend on the CX-30. She was bemoaning the dearth of American V6/V8 sedans in her price range (and four years later she could afford to buy a Blackwing if she really wanted to spend the money). The Mazda wasn’t even on her radar until I suggested it, and she fell in love with her soul red crystal one and stopped searching after the first test drive. She has no desire to replace it, only to make it a little more zoom zoom which is easily doable.
When I was looking for a car two years ago she asked why I, as a Mazda guy, was looking at an Alfa or a Camaro/Mustang/Challenger instead of what I recommended to her. I sat down and thought about it and our wants/needs were basically the same. Fell in love with the AWD turbo 3 that I own now and if something should happen to it, I’ll buy another.
I’m guessing you’ll be hearing from Ferrari’s lawyers soon? Ha ha
“The Apple Car was also reportedly supposed to be taller”
Made me think of this:
“I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller
I wish I had a girl who looked good, I would call her
I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat
And a ’64 Impala”
More lyrics from that song that apply to the Luce:
“Glad I came, to my senses
Like quick-quick, got sick-sick to my stomach”
Mazda to me goes automatically to the Miata…that’s all I care about and would want from them. Also, always automatically think of “Zoom! Zoom!” Also aware and agree that they do have good quality
How sure are we that Honda didn’t just sell their designs to Ferrari?