Feels like just about every manufacturer is trotting out some form of an electrified, semi-autonomous concept these days with production plans scheduled to begin in a few years. Conspicuously absent from the self-driving revolution planning sessions? Lamborghini, whose research and development head recently told Digital Trends that the company will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into an autonomous future, grazie mille.
While other corners of the Volkswagen Group empire have been especially vocal about taking humans out of the driver's seat—ahem, Audi—it seems that Lamborghini understands just who is buying their ballistic coupes: People who like to drive.
"If you buy a Lamborghini, you buy it to have fun and enjoy the driving," Lamborghini's R&D boss Maurizio Reggiani, said to Digital Trends at the Frankfurt Auto Show. "If we’re talking real autonomous driving, I think we will be the last brand to offer it."
Just like the comments from Genesis executive Albert Biermann on the needless complications in luxury cars, it's refreshing to hear automotive bigwigs recognize how the industry can get a little ahead of itself in developing consumer-facing technology. That's not to say Lamborghini is shunning options like adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist, both of which will be available on the upcoming Urus, but Biermann specified the SUV will feature "nothing that comes close to real autonomous driving."
Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali previously stated his opposition to a self-driving Centenario, telling CNBC in December 2016 it would be a "very long time" before the company moved in that direction. Their customers are people who want "to enjoy the power and the passion" of a Lamborghini, not the kick-back-and-relax set. It's good to hear that in a year of great upheaval, at least one thing hasn't changed.