Major automaker axs touchscreen controls and restores buttons after driver backlash: 'It's not a phone'

Volkswagen interiors are about to undergo a major transformation – and the shift might leave the brand’s futuristic designs in the rearview mirror. 

VW, the world’s second-largest carmaker by global sales, revealed plans to reintroduce physical buttons and dials, replacing the digital interfaces that studies show have been stressing out drivers. 

For years, the company had leaned into cost-cutting measures and sleek, high-tech cabins featuring haptic buttons and digital controls for everything from audio to climate settings.

Drivers complained that tech-heavy cars were difficult to operate while driving: passengers would have to tap through multiple screens to locate air conditioning fan speeds, or fiddle with a series of sliders to modify music volumes.   

But the brand's top designer, Andreas Mindt, announced VW will 'will never, ever make this mistake again,' in an interview with Autocar.  

'Honestly, it’s a car. It’s not a phone: it’s a car,' Mindt said. 

The shift back to physical buttons will kick off next year with the launch of VW’s new compact electric vehicle, the ID.2all. 

The new EV is the first battery-powered vehicle VW will launch after announcing a multi-billion dollar deal with electric automaker Rivian. 

Perhaps ironically, Rivian's vehicles have a limited number of interior buttons and knobs. 

The company runs its own proprietary digital interface inside its cabins and has scored the highest of any manufacturer on consumer sentiment scores. 

But for many drivers, the switch from digital interfaces is a welcome change. 

'I absolutely love this approach,' William Jones, a product engineer and a recent new vehicle buyer, told DailyMail.com about the use of physical buttons inside a car.

'There's a growing community or people who value vehicles with [physical buttons], as well as numerous YouTube videos criticizing the over-reliance on screens in modern cars.' 

Enthusiasts have pointed fingers at Tesla for the growing adoption of tablet-like vehicle interiors. 

The American EV brand's first proprietary production car, the Model S, featured a minimalist design that centralized around a giant touchscreen. 

As Tesla's popularity increased and it became the fastest-rising global automaker, other cars started to mimic the design. 

VW's ID. 4 features a central touchscreen that drivers must tap multiple times to access climate controls. Mercedes-Benz offers cars with a screen for nearly every vehicle occupant. 

Even Hyundai tested its digital screens on customers. 

Focus groups said the lack of easy-to-detect buttons made them 'stressed, annoyed, and steamed.'

Studies from government agencies suggest that technological changes are distracting drivers. 

Data compiled in 2023 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that adjusting interior digital displays increased a driver's crash risk. 

On average, drivers were more than four times more likely to be involved in a crash when 'adjusting devices (e.g. touchscreens),' according to the analysis. 

Jones also said that the interfaces might also become a reliability issue for vehicle owners. 

'From a technical standpoint, integrating multiple functions into a single screen creates a significant single point of failure,' he said. 

'For instance, if a physical knob that controls your AC breaks, it would only impact your ability to use the AC. 

'However, if the screen fails, you could lose access to critical features like your media system, reverse cameras, and even the speedometer in some cases.' 

And now, multiple automakers have suggested they might be jumping ship on the digital overload. 

'Screens are not luxury,' Gorden Wagener, the design chief at Mercedes said in a recent interview.' 

'You have a better — and bigger — TV at home, right?'