The concept of zigging when everyone else is zagging is nothing new in the auto industry. Trends are always a big pull in the business, after all, but there are times when not buckling to them is in the best interest of a particular automaker. Take Lamborghini for example. While most of the industry is moving along into adopting different forms of autonomous driving technology, the Raging Bull isn’t joining the party. Not now. Not anytime soon.

Speaking with Digital Trends, Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini’s head of research and development, said that the Italian automaker has no plans of introducing autonomous driving to any of its cars in the future. It’s worth noting that Lamborghini also took the same line of thinking when discussing electric cars a few months back. Part of the reason for resisting the urge to go autonomous or electric is that by doing so, the company would effectively rob its customers of the same core principles of driving that it has stood for since, well, it began offering cars. At its roots, Lamborghini is a company that prides itself on giving its customers the most visceral of driving experiences. An autonomous driving Lambo not only removes that experience away from the driver, but it also cuts off the legs of the very principles that it has prided itself on showcasing each and every time a new model comes into the picture. None of this is surprising. There are companies that can embrace autonomous driving and there are those that can’t, or won’t. Lamborghini falls into the latter category, where it should be in the first place.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

Lamborghini has made an about-face before with the Urus so why should we believe it now?

First of all, an SUV is far different from an autonomous driving car, for all the reasons that you and I can think of. It’s true that Lamborghini previously said that it wouldn’t build an SUV at any cost because it would run counter to its performance car identity. But automakers like Porsche, Audi, and Bentley proved that just because it’s an SUV, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be dripping in power, performance, and luxury.

If anything, Lamborghini was smart to jump in on the SUV craze because of how popular the market is right now. Even with a price tag approaching $200,000, the Lamborghini Urus is expected to be a hot ticket item, possibly even becoming the most popular Lamborghini ever in terms of sales volume. From a business perspective, it made enough sense that Lambo didn’t have to justify itself when it announced that it was indeed launching an SUV.

An autonomous driving vehicle is different though because its core principle runs directly opposed to Lamborghinis. What’s the point of having a car with that much power and performance capabilities when a computer is driving it? The thrill of speed may still be there, but it’s not the kind of speed that’s generated by having a foot on the pedal. Mauricio Reggiani said it best in his conversation with Digital Trends. “If you buy a Lamborghini, you buy it to have fun and enjoy the driving," he said.

That’s precisely the line of thinking that has turned the Italian automaker into one of the most famous performance car brands in the world. Going against that because the entire industry is embracing autonomous driving technology as the future wouldn’t be in the best interest of the automaker now, or you know, ever.

References

Lamborghini Urus

Read our speculative review on the 2018 Lamborghini Urus.

Read more Lamborghini news.