Volkswagen CEO admits removing physical buttons was a huge mistake

Modern cars are increasingly reducing the use of traditional controls, preferring to use mostly touchscreens or haptic controls. This trend is also present at Volkswagen, but the brand plans a change in its new models, at least with regard to the traditional buttons, rather than the haptics.

In an interview with Autocar, Thomas Schäfer, current CEO of Volkswagen, expresses his frustration with the consequences of this decision. He criticizes his predecessor and this trend that redefined the interior of the brand's cars under the leadership of Herbert Diess, leading to unhappy customers who shouldn't be.

As a result, the German brand has decided to make a return to physical buttons, abandoning the haptic interfaces used in recent years. This change will first be applied to the new generation of the Volkswagen Tiguan, which is about to be launched, as well as to the brand's future electric car models.

Say goodbye to frustrating touch controls and climate control

It's hard to see, but the climate controls are under the screen

In the latest version of the Volkswagen, the climate controls are impractical. They are made up of haptic actuators designed to slide your finger to adjust the temperature. Although they can also be in a hurry, their non-traditional nature makes them unintuitive. Also, they are not backlit.

These controls have been rightly criticized, especially since many features can only be manipulated via the control screen. To address these driver distraction issues, Volkswagen is working on more functional interiors.

Priority is given first to functionality, then to design. According to Schäfer, a lot of time has been spent determining which commands customers use most frequently, so they should be easy to activate.

"We categorize them. Which are the most important? Which should be physical buttons? Which can be displayed on the screen? And then we look at the nature of the command itself, whether it's a button or of a switch." A popular new approach is not to sacrifice usability for design.

However, that doesn't mean they'll overload the interior with physical controls. Only the essential buttons will be present. As Schäfer explains: "When we create buttons, it is better to have few of them, but that they are really useful, like the controls of an airplane."

Haptic air conditioning controls have been replicated by almost all Volkswagen brand cars

As expected, the new Tiguan will feature screens. More precisely, it will have two screens: one for the instrumentation and one for the display. These screens will be generous in size. This means that the features will also be able to be customized from the screen.

However, it is important to point out that the most commonly used features will still be able to be activated using the traditional buttons, in particular for the air conditioning, as Schäfer has already mentioned. He also confirmed that the steering wheel controls will no longer be touch sensitive and that the center console will be equipped with thumbwheels to adjust driving modes or volume.

Cars return to traditional buttons

Interior of the new Hyundai Kona

Thus, Volkswagen is trying to find the key to improving the interior of the Tiguan, and this improvement will also be applied to the next versions, such as the update of the Golf or the new delivery of the Passat, which will be unveiled at the end of this year.

Additionally, the Volkswagen ID.2, the announced new electric car, will ditch the minimalist cabin concept without traditional controls of the Volkswagen ID.3 or Volkswagen ID.4. In these models, the buttons are rare and haptic in nature.

The return to physical controls is not limited to Volkswagen. Brands such as Hyundai have confirmed their intention to keep them in their cars. The new Hyundai Kona is an example of this, because despite its huge panoramic curved screen, it has many traditional buttons located below or in the central tunnel. Physical buttons are also present on models such as the Ioniq 5 or the Ioniq 6.

The Mercedes-Benz Hyperscreen turns the entire dashboard into a screen. Few buttons, and almost all haptic.

And Mazda, on the other hand, has always criticized the use of haptic buttons and never fully delegated all functionality to the screen, arguing that they were very likely to cause distractions.

In contrast, many brands, including Tesla in the lead, are opting for interiors entirely devoid of buttons. However, Tesla is not the only example, as the Chinese Airways, for example, also places full confidence in the display in the U6s, and Mercedes-Benz is betting on complete immersion thanks to the screens. Plus, the recently updated Range Rover Evoque aligns perfectly with Tesla, with no traditional button in the equation.