![\"Car](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/26C0062_057--1--1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The past handful of years have seen a reversal of sorts in the car industry, as many brands which once decided to replace physical buttons with \u2018touch-sensing\u2019 haptic controls are now going back on their plans.<\/p>\n
Though haptic controls are commonplace in smartphones, the application of the technology in cars has been less well-received, as the constant movement of vehicles while on the go makes it unnecessarily difficult to activate certain controls.<\/p>\n
Volkswagen was one of the first big brands to be criticised for this move when it launched the Mk8 Golf, and it\u2019s since reverted to physical buttons for the majority of its product lineup.<\/p>\n
Ferrari too has spoken of walking back its button-less plans, and now Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola K\u00e4llenius has told Autocar<\/a> \u201cthe industry as a whole might have gone a little bit too far\u201d with its touch-sensing obsession.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes you get a bit ahead of yourself and do technology for the sake of technology and maybe forget a little bit about the customer. So from now on, you will see us reintroduce the most sensible buttons.\u201d<\/p>\n K\u00e4llenius\u2019 declaration comes as Mercedes continues to roll out its massive MBUX Hyperscreen across a number of flagship models, stretching from A-pillar to A-pillar in some vehicles, spanning as much as 56 inches (or 142cm) diagonally.<\/p>\n According to the executive, there\u2019s no issue with the size of its screens, which are claimed to be designed for users of almost every skill level to operate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe spend countless hours on UI [user interface],\u201d said K\u00e4llenius.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI spend hours every year discussing this with our engineers and we joke it needs to be so easy that either a five-year-old kid or a Mercedes board member can use it. That is the hurdle, and once you familiarise yourself with it, it becomes second nature.\u201d<\/p>\n Autocar asked him whether he thought the industry had reached \u201cpeak screen\u201d \u2013 with in-car infotainment to shrink in the future \u2013 to which he replied, \u201cI don’t know if we’re at peak screen, but we’re at low button.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Volkswagen brand CEO Thomas Sch\u00e4fer – who took control of the carmaker in mid-2022 – told Top Gear<\/a> magazine the generation of executives before made decisions which were hard for him to undo.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a spirit of iPhone-ish kind of design and utilisation that you could see coming through in many companies,\u201d Sch\u00e4fer said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a little bit difficult to get the designers off that idea.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Car giant\u2019s boss promises to bring back \u2018door handles and buttons\u2019<\/p>\n The head of Volkswagen said the brand was losing its core when it decided to ditch traditional buttons in its cars.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018listen, there\u2019s two things that are absolutely non-negotiable for me: door handles and buttons\u2019. I don\u2019t understand why anybody would have [touch-sensitive] sliders.\u201d<\/p>\n Likewise, last year then-Ferrari commercial boss Enrico Galliera admitted the brand had overlooked the potential flaws to the technology.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we decided to create the SF90, the brief was to have the most performing Ferrari ever. We wanted to establish a distance versus our competitor. To achieve that, we put in all the most advanced available technologies,\u201d Galliera said, as reported by Autocar<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we pushed our team to redesign the digital interaction. When we started this job, the idea was, when we interact with our phone is a touch, and the more you use the touch button the more you are quick in the execution, which, in principle, is absolutely true. So all the development was done following this path and these rules.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/volkswagen-golf-r-warmenau-package-2-scaled-1.webp\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/22C0217_001_0-1.jpg\")
MBUX Hyperscreen<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/storage.ghost.io\/c\/a9\/b3\/a9b3e204-3117-4792-9a32-46184029df44\/content\/images\/thumbnail\/small_VW_Golf8_GTI_0063-0f59f985-afef-4948-8d2c-aff799d25920.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/storage.ghost.io\/c\/a9\/b3\/a9b3e204-3117-4792-9a32-46184029df44\/content\/images\/thumbnail\/ferrari-amalfi-9-682461ee-b54a-4e4f-b36c-3fdb234d22c2.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n