A quick scan before you dive in:
Ferrari unveils the Luce in Rome today, its first fully electric model, at €500,000+ ($586,000+) with deliveries starting in October
Nissan closed FY2025 with a 0.5% operating margin and no room for error
Gas prices are at a four-year high, and the EV fuel-cost gap just got wider
Ferrari Unveils the Luce Today: a €500,000+ Electric Statement
Ferrari is set to unveil the Luce in Rome later today, its first fully battery-electric vehicle, per Reuters and Automotive News.
The Luce is a four-door car with a top speed of 310 kph (193 mph) and a starting price above €500,000 ($586,000+), per Reuters.
Jony Ive's design studio LoveFrom "was involved in developing the Luce," per Reuters; the wire's sources do not specify whether LoveFrom led exterior, interior, or both, but describe the result as a large car visually distinct from Ferrari's usual lineup.
First customer deliveries begin in October, per Ferrari. Ferrari says the car features a specially designed sound system that amplifies real powertrain vibrations rather than synthesizing a fake engine note (a deliberate contrast with the AMG GT 4-Door EV's V8 simulation we covered yesterday).
Ferrari has already scaled back its broader EV ambitions: fully electric cars are now targeted at 20% of the lineup by 2030, down from 40%, per Reuters. CEO Benedetto Vigna pushed the second EV to at least 2028 citing weak demand; Italian rival Lamborghini abandoned its planned 2030 EV outright for the same reason.
The Luce is not chasing the EV mass market — at €500,000+ it competes with Rimac Nevera and Pininfarina Battista, not Tesla. The bet is positional: define what luxury electrification looks like before BYD's Yangwang U9 or another Chinese rival defines it for them, and reach younger wealthy buyers more open to EVs while keeping the V12 traditionalists in hybrids and ICE. Whether buyers who chose Ferrari for a V12 will accept amplified electric vibrations as a substitute is the question the October deliveries will start answering.
Also worth knowing
Nissan barely cleared a profit in FY2025: Nissan reported operating profit of 58.0 billion yen on revenue of 12.0 trillion yen for fiscal year 2025, with global sales of 3.15 million units, per Nissan's release cited on r/cars. That works out to a 0.5% operating margin, which points toward little buffer for tariff shocks or recall costs. A Nissan subsidiary separately scrapped its plan to build EV powertrains in the UK, per Reuters, with no replacement timeline announced. #analyst
Gas hits a four-year high, sharpening the EV running-cost case: National fuel prices have reached a four-year high today, per Car and Driver, driven in part by Iran-war supply pressure (the same shock now disrupting synthetic motor oil supply per Automotive News). The Carscoops fuel-cost study we noted earlier this week now lands differently: at today's prices, the year-to-date gap between a Toyota Sequoia owner ($1,623 at the pump) and an EV owner ($11 in energy costs) is widening rather than narrowing. #market
Polestar reverses course on physical controls: Polestar confirmed future models will include more physical buttons, per Motor1, reversing the all-touchscreen direction the brand launched with. #enthusiast
Nio retreats from overseas markets: Nio is pulling back from global expansion to refocus on its domestic Chinese business and profitability, per CnEVPost. The retreat comes as legacy Western automakers report recovering China sales through local partnerships, per InsideEVs, tightening the window Nio had to establish footholds abroad. #analyst
What's new
Subaru Trailseeker first test: MotorTrend published its first full test of the 2026 Subaru Trailseeker, framing the midsize electric SUV as a performance-oriented family hauler in the spirit of the 1972 Vista Cruiser. It is Subaru's first purpose-built electric midsize SUV in the US market.
Quick links
GM and Samsung pause $3.5 billion Indiana battery plant: GM has paused construction of the 1,600-job, 30 GWh New Carlisle battery cell plant it had been building with Samsung SDI, per Carscoops citing Detroit News. GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly said the pause is "to align production capacity with current demand" following the end of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit.
Tesla Cybertruck lease pricing cut: Tesla has reduced Cybertruck lease pricing, per CBT News. Specific terms were not disclosed in current reporting.
2027 Nissan Frontier Sport Edition revealed: Nissan announced a new Frontier Sport Edition for 2027, bringing PRO-4X-inspired design and off-road capability at a lower price point, per Nissan's release cited on r/cars.
Sources: Reuters / Automotive News (Luce) · autoevolution (Luce) · Ferrari (Luce) · r/cars (Nissan FY2025) · Reuters (Nissan UK) · Car and Driver · Carscoops (fuel study) · Motor1 (Polestar) · CnEVPost (Nio) · InsideEVs · MotorTrend (Trailseeker) · Carscoops (GM/Samsung) · CBT News · Nissan News (r/cars)