Ferrari's CEO claims that touch controls are 50% less expensive than traditional buttons.

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      In February, Ferrari disclosed information about its all-electric model, the Luce. Promoted as the Ferrari for an uncertain electrified future, the Luce’s design heavily incorporated modern technology. However, it turns out that the increased use of glass in the cockpit also led to significant cost savings for Ferrari.

      Don't just take our word for it; you can hear from Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna in an interview featured by the UK publication Autocar. In this interview, Vigna discusses topics like India, free trade, and the volatile EV market. After the dust settled from February's major announcement, he acknowledged some harsh realities of contemporary car development, revealing that the rise of touchscreens is driven as much by cost-cutting measures as by the desire to attract younger buyers.

      Vigna is not alone in recognizing that the shift towards digital interfaces is largely cost-driven rather than consumer demand. He even provided numerical evidence: touchscreens are not only cheaper than traditional buttons, they are a staggering 50% less expensive to manufacture.

      “Touch is something made by, for, the supplier advantage,” Vigna remarked during the interview. “Creating a touch button is 50% cheaper...”

      It's worth noting that this is from a company that recently hired Jonny Ive, a highly esteemed name in display design, to assist in crafting their infotainment system and interior for the EV. If there is a more expensive way to design a touch-based system for a car, we would be surprised. Nonetheless, even with this high-profile collaboration, the touchscreen approach proved to be significantly less costly than developing physical buttons and switches.

      “If you want to create beautifully crafted buttons, you [need tooling],” Vigna explained.

      While he acknowledged that consistent touchscreen experiences are excellent for consumer electronics, they do not resonate with Ferrari's clientele.

      “We need to create something unique,” Vigna stated.

      In the future, Ferrari aims to achieve what it calls effective "phygital" design—integrating physical controls with digital enhancements. The company will not shift to a completely digital cockpit.

      In fact, Ferrari has already begun to revert its streamlined designs for more "interactive" cockpits, according to Vigna, and we can expect more of this trend moving forward.

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