Volkswagen is set to bring back the good old-fashioned yet practical physical buttons for the steering wheel in their vehicles, according to its CEO, Thomas Schafer.
In his LinkedIn post, Schafer said, “We are sharpening our portfolio and our design, plus creating a new simplicity in operating our vehicles. For example, we are bringing back the push-button steering wheel! That’s what customers want from Volkswagen.”
Volkswagen’s latest vehicles have adopted touch-sensitive controls on their steering wheel which consist of a black panel on each spoke with controls for the infotainment system, digital instrument cluster menu, and driver aids such as cruise control.
To operate the touch-sensitive controls, users can either tap or swipe on them but it hasn’t exactly been practical as certain functions can be triggered simply by turning the steering wheel, based on our recent experience in the Mk8 Golf TSI. The lighting and the air-conditioning system controls are also touch-sensitive but they’re unlikely to be replaced as they’re less prone to being pressed accidentally.
In Malaysia, aside from the Mk8 Golf TSI, the Golf GTI, Golf R, the facelifted Tiguan Allspace Elegance and R-Line, along with the Arteon and the fully electric ID.4 SUV previewed recently all feature touch-sensitive controls on the steering wheel. Models such as the Passat Elegance and R-Line, as well as the entry-level Tiguan Allspace Life still feature physical buttons on the steering wheel.
Such a move is not uncommon as Honda has also reverted to physical buttons in the past. This was seen in the Honda Civic FC with the return of physical volume controls on its steering wheel in the 2020 facelift model, replacing the touch-sensitive units first seen in the 2016 model.
What do you think of these touch-sensitive controls in general which are also available in Mercedes-Benz vehicles? Let us know in the comments!
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Advanced cars shoulda used voice commands (ie Hello Proton) or adaptive settings, touch buttons are better looking and only really functional when users prefer something out of their norm. Going back to push buttons are just an excuse to cheapen out or due to semicon shortages. Bad move VW!
That’s one way of looking at it. However until the technology is perfected and it can understand exactly what the user wants done regardless of accent/language and perform the action correctly (first time, every time), tactile push button controls should stay. There is a benefit from muscle memory and not having to take your eyes off the road to operate something simple like aircon or radio volume controls.
high-tech VS practicality
will go for practicality, anytime
This is a good move by VW. They
listen to their customers about bad feedback and they make changes. This is why VW is a reputable world carmaker, instead of being jaguh kampung.
actually no, this should never have gone pass their UI testing…
who in their right mind would put capacitive sensors as buttons on the steering wheel???
Voice commands are only useful when the function you need is hidden inside a deep menu.
For simple controls like controlling the radio volume, it is always faster to just press a push button or turn a knob.
why do we always need to implement something that goes backwards? touch sensitive buttons in a vehicle is silly, give me physical dials and buttons anytime. touch screen or touch sensitive buttons and even voice control is not intuitive.
hi proton, open the driver windows… how long that took? just push the auto driver window down button on the door… only takes a second. with touch screen etc you need to look at the display to confirm activated whereas a button you can easily tell by the clicking feedback or feel the button/dial position.
i like how the new hondas have moved back to buttons like the climate controls and more buttons for the infotainment system
touch sensitive button in touch-prone area should always be a no-no. That should be the basics in ergonomics study
Don’t buy any VW model now, CEO is asking everyone to wait for facelift or new model.
Dun worry. Can buy now also & change the buttons later at the VW service center.
I want to change the touch control for aircon back to physical button one can ah?
Not bad for VW to actually listen to their customers and act on it. Your move, Mercedes.
I wanted to replace my old car with Allspace or Touareg about 1 year ago. But the buttonless steering wheel is nogo for me. And I pray my old car will last another few years until the practical physical-button steering wheel returns.
Nah should make it all disappear my tiguan all space have usb cables to charge the phone if did not notice the cable accidentally pressed the aircond settings wallah you are going for a trip to try look at the setting
ini kalilah, please make the golf gti usable! next return the physical climate controls to us, looking at u merc and bmw
No kidding? What are they gonna discover next, that customers don’t like moronic Tesla-style controls with even air conditioner settings being buried in touchscreen menus?
No shit Sherlock
If you don’t know, touch sensitive control cost lesser to produce compare to physical push buttons. All this innovation in the name of “high tech” is actually cost cutting move by carmakers.
Physical push buttons remain the most intuitive control especially for car interior.
People seems to be divided when this topic is open up. If you zoom into real user opinion, I believe, VW and other car manufacturers are doing is correct.
There is no point taking the opinion of people who don’t really use the functions everyday. Personal perceptions is not relevant to manufacturers. They value their customer voice instead.
So best SUV for the year
So best SUV for the year
So the best SUV for the year 2022