Lamborghini Won’t Be Releasing a Manual Anytime Soon

Here’s yet another way that Lamborghini won’t be following Ferrari’s lead.

Days after Ferrari unveiled the 12Cilindri Manuale, its fellow Italian supercar maker has said it has no intention of releasing a similar model anytime soon. And a big part of the reason why, Road & Track reports, is that the company’s technology strategies are driven by its motorsports division.

When Ferrari revealed the 12Cilindri Manuale last week, we’re sure that there are more than a few Raging Bull fans out there who looked on with envy. That’s because the V-12-powered grand tourer is the first Prancing Horse to feature a special dual-clutch gearbox with a new “Manuale-by-Wire” system, which allows drivers to row through the gears like they’re driving a stick shift. Unfortunately for this part of the Lamborghini customer base, its chief marketing and sales officer Federico Foschini says there are currently no plans to put a similar transmission in one of the marque’s supercars.

“There are a few customers that are still in love with this kind of stuff,” the executive told Road & Track at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend. “And I think that it’s an opportunity … but it’s not the trend. Because such kind of—let’s say, performance and driving engagement—you cannot experience with this kind of gearbox, you know?”

Even if the manual, simulated or otherwise, is an “opportunity,” it’s one that Lamborghini is unlikely to take at this time. That, Foschini said, is because the technology in its cars echoes the gear found in its race cars. Because of that, the company is currently focused on hybridization and automatic gearboxes connected to steering wheel paddle shifters.

Lamborghini may have no plans for a manual or a fully electric vehicle, but it sounds like the company is open to the idea of releasing more Sterrato models. Earlier this decade, at the end of the Huracán’s life cycle, the automaker put out the Sterrato, a lifted, all-wheel-drive variant clad in all-terrain tires. Foschino did explicitly state another off-road Lambo is on the way, but he did mention the Huracán’s successor, the hybrid-V-8-powered Temerario, would be an ideal candidate for the treatment.