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Call me hyperbolic, but it seems as though Australia's car market is showing symptoms of digital sickness.
While large touchscreen infotainment systems have become a necessity for navigation and sound systems, the move to house essential car controls through these interfaces has been scrutinised by drivers, brands and industry bodies alike.
So much so that some car makers are turning away from touchscreens in favour of classic buttons, not only because of customer criticism but also due to evolving safety requirements.
In January 2026, South Korean giant Kia doubled down on retaining physical controls, with a key executive stating that the brand will continue to prioritise a balanced approach between touchscreen interfaces and buttons.
Speaking to Autocar earlier this year, Kia’s interior design chief Jochen Paesen said there are some essential car features that “you need to find straight away, and you don’t want to mess up”.
While the executive acknowledged that some brands do digital features well, he said that Kia’s global positioning means it needs to cater to a wide audience.
“People have very basic needs. Yes, there are people who are more tech-savvy, but the answers are not that different. If to get to a function you have to go down three steps [in a menu]. That’s bad for everybody.”
The desire to return to traditional buttons for some key driving features has been heard by ANCAP – the peak independent safety body for new cars – which told Drive in August 2025 it will reward marks for car makers who offer tactile controls starting from 2026.
“Locating key vehicle controls on – or buried within – a touchscreen can add complexity and distraction while driving. If key functions are housed in a touchscreen, they must be large enough and positioned at the first level of screen depth – not hidden in submenus,” ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg said.
The over-reliance on digital infotainment as a car's main control centre has escalated to federal levels in some countries, such as China, where transport authorities are working on legislation that would see the mandatory inclusion of physical controls for certain driver functions.
As reported by Drive in February 2026, the new rules – expected to be enforced from 1 July 2027 – encompass essential driving features such as turn signals, hazard lights, a horn, front and rear demisters, and an emergency SOS service.
Beyond evolving safety standards, the main factor in reverting to classic toggles was a shift in consumer appetite, with some brands acknowledging their mistakes in relying too heavily on digital touchscreens.
In May 2026, Mercedes-Benz is the latest brand to join a growing list of car makers returning to old-school car buttons on future models.
According to Mercedes-Benz sales executive Mathias Geisen, the decision to revert to physical switches stemmed from years of customer feedback that they weren’t fond of the digital controls embedded in its infotainment system.
"But in our future products, you will see more hard keys for specific functions that customers want to have direct access for with hard keys,” Geisen told Autocar in April 2026.
“When we do our research clinics, customers are very clear: ‘We love big screens, but we want to have [hard controls for] specific functionalities',” he said.
Likewise, German compatriot Volkswagen also admitted that relying on touch-sensitive controls was a mistake, with the German marque reverting to old-school buttons for essential car features, as seen in the latest ID Polo electric hatch's interior.
As reported by Drive in March 2025, Volkswagen head of design Andreas Midt said the brand had learned from past errors.
“We will have physical buttons for the five most important functions – the volume, the heating on each side of the car, the fans and the hazard light – below the screen. They will be in every car from now on. We understood this, we will never, ever make this mistake anymore,” Midt told Autocar.
“On the steering wheel, we will have physical buttons. No guessing anymore. There’s feedback, it's real, people love this. Honestly, it’s a car. It’s not a phone, it’s a car."
Even Ferrari is joining the list. The Italian luxury icon’s first fully electric car, the Luce – a four-seat, four-door hatchback-style model – will feature metal switches and physical toggles for some driver controls, following criticism of the brand’s fiddly touch-sensitive controls in some of its models.
Numerous Audi models, such as the A5, Q5, A6 e-tron, and Q6 e-tron from MY26, will also feature physical rollers in their steering wheel controls. While the changes will be rolled out on Audi models in Europe and the UK, it’s likely the updates will eventually come to Australian examples.
However, Audi will continue to use digital interfaces for other features, such as headlight controls, mirror adjustments, and interior lock and unlock functions.
Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
