Are Buttons in Cars Going to Give Way to Touchscreens Forever?

Before we start, some essential disclosures: I drive a 1960 Volkswagen Beetle, listen to music from compact discs and own a few wristwatches that don’t run on batteries. I also listen to FM on a dedicated radio set and, for 20 years, had a cathode ray tube television. I like my other car (which is from this century) because some bits of it are resolutely analogue. In fact, after a year of owning it, I was told that I could use Android Auto if I connected the car to my phone with a C-type (?) cable. So to answer the question of whether the analogue interface in cars is soon going to die out, my answer is no. You may wish to read on if you want to know why I think so.

So what’s exactly the problem? The conversations on today’s cars are getting sidetracked by the number of touchscreens and their size instead of the fundamentals of the car. In the attempt to make cars an extension of your personality (actually not yours, but your cellphone’s), cars today are ditching simple controls for complex ones, governed by infotainment and software code. Seduced by what they see when they peer over the Great Wall, OEMs are increasingly offering what Chinese OEMs do, especially in their EVs. Several European carmakers have decided to out-Chinese the Chinese and do away with all sorts of physical controls, even for the most essential features. Imagine going through menu options on a giant screen or using touch-sensitive buttons to control the air vents, turn down the volume, roll up the rear windows or activate the wipers. Now imagine doing it while driving. It is highly distracting and downright hazardous. Not just Europe, but this could become an industry-wide epidemic.

I suspect it is not just overzealous product planners and Applephile designers who are responsible for this, but number crunchers too – physical buttons are arguably more expensive than giant screens. Also replacing a faulty touchscreen will make the OEM more money than replacing a button panel, I am sure. ‘Right To Repair’ as a concept for Software Defined Vehicles is a bridge that is yet to be approached, let alone crossed.

Inevitably, car owners are also finding this new-fangled tech cumbersome and irritating. A 2023 JD Power survey of American car owners showed an increase in customer dissatisfaction, owing mainly to complicated touch-based infotainment systems. Even Porsche – which famously believed in the philosophy of ‘one button, one function’ in all their sports cars – succumbed to the touchscreen in the Taycan just because it was their ground-up all-electric car and wanted to make a clean break from the past. Well, that break is not going to last too long. Media reports say that new Euro NCAP tests in 2026 will nudge OEMs to use ‘separate, physical controls for basic functions in an intuitive manner, limiting eyes-off-road time and therefore promoting safer driving.’

Also Read: Euro NCAP to Give Higher Safety Ratings to Cars with Fewer Screens

The reason why outlandish features and techno wizardry, and giant touchscreens and infotainment refresh rates are dominating automotive conversations today is that cars will soon start getting homogenised like never before. There’s not much to distinguish what’s underneath different brands of Chinese EVs, so they have to stand out by giving you a dozen screens, getting your car to order your microwave to start making dinner and take-your-drone-along capabilities. Should the rest of the world follow suit? Perhaps not, because many wise people are talking about an impending split in the world of manufacturing: ‘In China, For China’ and ‘Rest Of The World.’

I think we Indians may flirt initially with the techno-wizardry in infotainment systems in new cars, but reality will soon sink in. I’ll draw a parallel with smartwatches. A December 2024 article in The Economic Times said that smartwatch sales in India have dropped precipitously. The reason is that consumers were shifting back to analogue watches because they found smartwatches highly distracting and invasive, owing to constant monitoring of health parameters, office e-mail notifications, chats and more. Some of the examples of ex-smartwatch users quoted in the article included tech entrepreneurs and fitness enthusiasts who would ideally be heavy users of these hi-tech devices. But even they have declared enough is enough.

Also Read: Next-Gen Apple CarPlay to Offer More Customisation and Control Functions

So, do you want your horoscope read out by your car or want to know what’s in your refrigerator by looking at one of your car’s screens? Well, some of you may, but that should not be at the cost of the tactile sensation of using a physical knob or button while driving your car. Hope sense prevails.