About John Elkann
John Elkann, Executive Chairman of Ferrari, presented the Ferrari Luce to Pope Leo XIV at Castel Gandolfo on May 26, 2026. During the presentation, Elkann described the vehicle as inspired by older Ferraris that were "very simple," adding that he felt they had become "over complicated" over time with the addition of more technology. He compared the design effort to how remote controls were once simple.
Elkann noted that the Ferrari Luce is the company's first five-seater model. He explained that the car features a "Manettino" switch derived from Formula 1 experience, which allows the driver to change the car's settings. On the left side, a control manages the power of the Luce, with a range setting that maximizes mileage and uses active suspension to lower the car and reduce drag. Elkann stated that moving the control to the right increases the car's power output to 1,040 horsepower.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from John Elkann's recent appearances.
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✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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John Elkann0:00
Today Stellantis is the fourth-largest manufacturer in the world, it's profitable and generates 157 billion in revenue. With our 14 brands we sell five and a half million vehicles, of which less than half are in Europe. We were fighting for survival. Today we are among the top manufacturers in the world on this extraordinary path of development. Italy and Italians have great merit, and to the whole country goes our gratitude. But we are often asked what advantages Italy gets from Stellantis. If Stellantis did not exist today, we would not be here because the Italian auto industry would have disappeared long ago, like computing after Olivetti or chemicals after Montedison. Over the past 20 years, the domestic market has declined by 30%, while employment has fallen by about 20%. This means the company has defended production and employment in the country's plants. Thanks to the export of Italian brands, in addition to the Jeep in Basilicata, the Dodge in Campania, the Citroën, Opel and Peugeot vans in Abruzzo, and more recently the DS in Melfi, we wanted to quantify the contribution made by the company to the country by asking the Luiss Guido Carli University to produce an independent study on the group's history from 2004 to 2023, since we don't yet have data for 2024. These are the years I lived through firsthand. What emerges is that the positive contribution to the growth of the Italian economy has never wavered. The study will be presented publicly in the coming weeks, and you will be able to read an excerpt made available today. From 2004 to 2023, Stellantis produced 16.7 million passenger cars and commercial vehicles in Italy, for a total national production value of nearly 700 billion euros. Including effects on the supply chain and impacts on household consumption, the total production value in Italy over the past 20 years rises to 1,700 billion euros, with added value of 417 billion. For every euro of value created by Stellantis, nine euros are generated in the rest of the Italian economy. Amen.
