- Ferrari’s CEO asked a simple question: Why buy a Ferrari if you can’t drive it?
- Benedetto Vigna insists: “We will not make a fully autonomous car — clearly and unambiguously.”
- Driver assistance technology will continue to develop, but Ferrari insists humans will always be in control.
We admit that the debate surrounding the Luce is getting tiresome, so let’s remind ourselves that Ferrari’s lineup is more than just EVs. Maranello is keeping busy with its target to launch no less than four cars every year between 2026 and the end of 2030. That’s 20 models in just five years, an extraordinarily large number for an exotic car brand that sold just 13,640 units in 2025. One thing all future Prancing Horses have in common is that the driver will always be in control.
CEO Benedetto Vigna played down the prospect of a fully self-driving Ferrari, and he even questioned why anyone would want to buy one of the company’s cars if they couldn’t drive it. In an interview with Australian magazine Drivethe head honcho promises to install a steering wheel in every vehicle so owners can enjoy driving instead of letting computers do all the work:
“We’re not going to make a fully autonomous car – that’s plain and obvious. We want people to have fun, right [computer] chips. We want to have a wheel and a man or woman behind the wheel. Otherwise, why did you buy a Ferrari?’
Photo by: Ferrari
Driver Assistance Systems Will Evolve
The Italian high-end specialty brand will continue to improve driver assistance systems such as lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control, but a Ferrari with Level 3 autonomy or higher is not on the agenda. The fact that a self-driving future won’t happen isn’t a surprise, considering customers buy these cars to enjoy them, ideally on winding roads.
The Ferrari is clearly not a commuter car for which a fully autonomous driving system would make sense. People who can afford it will almost certainly be able to afford the more mainstream models for which the technology will be available one day. They don’t need to buy a Ferrari for its self-driving capabilities, as that would defeat the purpose of owning the car in the first place.
Motorcycle Pickup1: Ferrari may have changed dramatically in the last few decades, but they were smart enough to know where to draw the hard line in prioritizing human control above all else. Not only will the steering wheel remain, but there are also reports that the manual gearbox may make a return. A more analog experience certainly fits Ferrari’s image, considering Ferrari built its legacy on sports cars that were fun to drive.
