the gist of the article is that people don't like change. and the lesson is: don't change your style, because your fans will hate you. even star trek felt that lesson. the backslash they are getting in recent years is disturbing.
but ferrari is arrogant too: "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."
WAT? how dare someone tell me what i do with my car.
but back to the argument: people don't like change. but change is inevitable. sure, some change is objectively bad, but we are talking about style here. get over it. if you don't like it, don't buy it.
the article argues that the problem is not the switch to electric, but how the car makes you feel. i'd argue that electric feeling different is unavoidable.
the article fails to show an example that does this better. the tesla example is unfair because tesla didn't have an existing brand image to follow. they could start from scratch.
if the luce looks like a car designed by apple, that's obviously no surprise. it will certainly appeal to apple fans.
so to me the lesson is this: don't change your brand, or it will hurt, if you want to innovate, create a new brand. but the consequence is also that if brands can not change they will eventually have to die and be replaced. that is not new, we have known this for some time now.
but i want to ask: is it possible to break out of that cycle? only if we teach people to be more open to change. and if we teach them to stop complaining about things that don't concern them. go complain about the cybertruck, that thing is objectively ugly. or about SUVs, they have no place in the city. but complaining that the luce does not fit the ferrari brand should be left to those that actually buy from ferrari.