Touchscreens in cars are finally on their way out. Good riddance

For years, Mercedes-Benz has relied on touchscreens as the command center of its vehicles. Is it too hot? Tap the screen to set the AC temperature. Want to listen to the news? Tap. Defrost the rear window? Tap, tap, tap. While the automaker has retained some physical controls in its cars, its modern user experience is effectively built around the screen.

But that’s about to change.

Magnus Östberg, chief software officer for Mercedes-Benz, recently announced that the company would be centering future car design around physical controls instead of screens. “The data shows us physical buttons are better,” Östberg told Autocar at the Munich motor show. He says Mercedes will begin integrating more physical controls into its digitally focused cabins starting in 2026.

Mercedes’ announcement is part of a bigger industry trend…

with carmakers like Hyundai leading the charge to bring back knobs and buttons to its cars. Earlier this year, fellow German automaker Volkswagen, also announced plans to fix its touchscreen problem, saying that it was “taking a step back to move forward.”

After more than a decade of car screens growing bigger and brighter, the auto industry finally seems to be acknowledging what drivers (and science!) has known all along: physical buttons are safer and more pleasant to use.

Why automakers went crazy for screens

You can partly blame Buick for this mess. The General Motors’ brand introduced the first 3-by-4-inch car touchscreen with the 1986 Buick Riviera. It turned out that drivers found the design distracting and cumbersome, so Buick eventually cancelled it. Still, it serves as an early glimpse of how automakers would eventually come to think about integrating technology into the driver experience.

Throughout the ’90s and early 2000s, automakers like BMW and Lexus began to integrate small, low-res screens into their cars to handle functions like navigation. But the touchscreen revolution didn’t happen in earnest until 2012 when Elon Musk installed cheap vertical 17-inch displays in his Model S. The sleek, tech-forward design intrigued other automakers, who realized they could cut costs by reducing the number of expensive physical controls in their cars.

And sure enough, lots of car companies followed suit. Throughout the 2010s, touchscreens became the default mode of interaction for carmakers across the price spectrum. But screens were not without their problems. Tesla’s reliance on electronic controls has lead to some high profile issues. The screens themselves started failing, leading to a 158,000-vehicle recall for the company.

Drivers, meanwhile, didn’t seem to like touchscreens all that much, and science didn’t either. Evidence began mounting that touchscreens, despite their perceived convenience, were actually not all that helpful.

In 2022, Swedish car magazine Vi Bilägare conducted a comprehensive study of 11 modern touchscreen-equipped cars. It found that physical controls dramatically outperform digital interfaces for driver tasks.

Its testing revealed that a 17-year-old Volvo V70 with only physical controls allowed drivers to complete essential tasks in just 10 seconds, while modern cars with touchscreens took anywhere from 23.5 seconds to a disastrous 44.9 seconds to accomplish the same functions.

But going back to physical controls is not just about convenience—it’s about safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says any distraction that requires drivers to look away from the road even for a second is a potential accident. Touchscreens, by nature, require drivers to take their eyes off the road to navigate through multiple menu layers in order to perform simple tasks that once required an easy-to-find single physical button press or dial twist. As design expert Amber Case says, “Because buttons are not fixed to specific locations, screens inhibit muscle memory and findability. Touchscreens compete for attention with the driving process, adding to the dangers of distracted driving.”

Back to basics

All this has lead automakers to reconsider their devotion to the screen. In early 2025, Volkswagen announced a significant policy shift, with the company committing to restore physical controls for essential functions across all future models. Design chief Andreas Mindt acknowledged publicly that the company’s touchscreen-heavy strategy had failed users. He said that cars are not phones, so they require a different interface.

Hyundai also reversed direction in late 2024, when they reintroduced physical controls with its Ioniq 5. It came after a 2023 epiphany, when its internal testing revealed driver frustration with capacitive controls during critical moments. The Korean automaker’s research showed that touch-only interfaces create anxiety when drivers need immediate access to vehicle functions.

“I think it’s great,” designer Chris Kernaghan told Fast Company at the time. “I’m not dismissing touchscreens in cars entirely, [but] there are certain critical controls that are better suited to good old-fashioned buttons and knobs. As a designer, I’m all about tactile feedback whenever possible. It just feels natural to push a button and get an immediate response. You don’t get that same sense of control with touchscreens.”

Manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, and Nissan maintained hybrid approaches throughout the touchscreen boom, preserving tactile controls alongside digital displays rather than eliminating buttons entirely. Chinese brands also offer hybrid a touchscreen-physical button UX, although some, like the Xiaomi SU7, provide it with an optional full physical control system that attaches magnetically to the dashboard, under the main display.

Trend spotting

If I were a cynic (and I am), I would say that Mercedes took these steps mostly because there seems to be a reversal to this useless fad. Plus, regulatory pressure is mounting: Europe’s safety testing organization will penalize vehicles starting in 2026 if they lack physical controls for essential safety systems including climate, signals, emergency features, and driver-assistance functions. 

But Östberg explained that the company’s real-world usage data—revealed by its own cars’ electronics—pointed out that something needed to change. A Mercedes spokesperson told Fast Company that consumer feedback played a role in the shift: “We’ve listened closely to customer feedback and analyzed real-world usage data from our software-defined vehicles. Physical controls offer superior usability and comfort for many drivers.”

The spokesperson added, “The rollers and these physical buttons are very important for certain age groups and certain populations.” This may be true, but it’s a strange way to frame a decision that is ultimately about making cars safer for everyone.

A solution in progress

The solution Mercedes has chosen starts with a redesigned steering wheel featuring “a host of rockers, rollers, and buttons” that will become standard across all Mercedes models going forward. This wheel will be fitted to all car models already on sale, with implementation beginning early next year.

Mercedes tells me that the manufacturer is reintroducing tactile elements like a rocker for the limiter and Distronic (its cruise control system) and a roller for volume control. These will all be on the steering wheel. The picture of the wheel shows a lot of buttons crammed in its horizontal axis, like an oversize PlayStation gamepad—a bit complicated, but definitely better than using the display.

Is this the solution to the problem? I always found these types of button-heavy wheel designs problematic. In theory, not having to take your hands away from the steering wheel is good. In practice, I find myself looking down to make sure I’m clicking the right button. Or missing the target if I don’t look. When asked about usability testing for the new GLC wheel controls, Mercedes told me the new steering wheel had undergone “extensive testing” as part of its development process, though no specific details about the results were provided.

It’s interesting timing for the announcement. Mercedes has just fitted its new GLC SUV model with what is allegedly the biggest screen ever put in a production car: a 39.1-inch display called an MBUX Hyperscreen. It spans the entire dashboard width. As Mercedes-Benz design chief Gorden Wagener acknowledged to Autocar, the company has “reached a point where you cannot make the screen much bigger.” Perhaps the industry’s screen-enlargement race has finally reached its logically absurd conclusion.

Mercedes plans to add more physical controls elsewhere in future cabins, though Östberg indicated this will likely be limited to SUVs because “in larger cars we have more freedom to package” and buyers of those vehicles “care more about buttons.”

When asked about expanding changes beyond the steering wheel, the Mercedes spokesperson told me the company doesn’t disclose details of future portfolios but continually evaluates “customer needs and preferences.” Maybe this is indicative that the company is still trying to balance cost considerations with user experience, rather than committing fully to what its own data shows works best.

Perhaps it’s FOMO, as the Chinese industry seems to be fully committed to displays everywhere and companies like BYD are poised to dominate the global car industry. In fact, Östberg hinted that different wheel designs might be used depending on location, explaining that “while Europeans like buttons, Asian drivers prefer more touchscreen and voice controls.” This market-specific strategy suggests Mercedes is prioritizing regional preferences over the safety and usability benefits its own data has uncovered. 

Can AI fix it?

At the same time, Mercedes says it is investing heavily in voice command technology, with Östberg noting that voice command usage in the CLA has “tripled” among Mercedes drivers, calling the increase “phenomenal.”

This AI integration could represent the future solution to the buttons-versus-screens dilemma. If voice recognition becomes really good rather than the current Larry David level of accuracy, drivers might eventually interact with their cars through natural conversation. This mirrors the prediction of usability expert Jakob Nielsen, who believes that user interfaces will eventually disappear entirely as AI anticipates user needs. In such a future, the current debate about buttons and screens might be irrelevant.

Back in the real world, however, things need to change. More manufacturers should embrace the return to physical controls, even if it will cost them more to make those cars because of the complex electronics that rolling wheels and buttons require. Mercedes deserves credit for acknowledging the touchscreen problem like its VW colleagues have done and attempting to address a real problem with data-driven solutions. But there is still a way to go before we can say automakers are truly prioritizing drivers’ best interests. What will the cars of the future look like? Right now, the industry seems to be hedging its bets.

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